Labour revival claim

JEREMY Corbyn was due to take to the stage i n Dundee today to claim Labour is set to make an extraordinary resurgence in Scotland.

The UK leader said his party was poised to batter the SNP by more than tripling its Westminster seat tally to 27.

Labour is eyeing up one of its former heartlands by hosting its Scottish conference in the city, which has only sent one Labour representative to Holyrood or Westminster since 2007, the year the Nationalists swept to power.

In his speech at the Caird Hall, Mr Corbyn was expected to say: “This time last year there were more than a few people in the media who had written the Labour Party off.

“In Scotland we were told t hat Labour was dying.

“The truth i s that we very much are alive and kicking. Labour in Scotland is back.

“Led by Richard Leonard . . . we are making Labour’s voice heard for a radically fairer society.”

Mr Corbyn was due to claim that Labour was “on the cusp” of winning 20 more seats in Scotland at the next general election

The conference, which runs until Sunday, is set to be dominated by infighting over the party’s Brexit stance.

Emergency services were called to Iain M Smith Auctioneers & Valuers, near Perth Aerodrome, just after midnight.

At the height of the blaze, 45 firefighters were in attendance, using eight pumping appliances and one height appliance to battle the flames.

Police Scotland was also i n attendance.

There were no reports of any injuries.

The fire was brought under control at 5.45am, but a crew remained at the scene and were dousing the embers as the Tele went to press.

Owner of the auction house, Iain Smith, took to social media to say that the salesroom had been destroyed.

He said: “I’m sorry to have to tell you that we have had a fire destroy the saleroom completely so there will not be an auction tomorrow or in the next two weeks.

“Please bear with us, as it will take us a while to sort everything out.

“Please do not come to the auction site as you will be turned away by fire marshals and police. I will update this post when possible.”

An auction was due to take place today.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said that a joint investigation is to take place, which the fire service will take the lead on.

An eyewitness said: “The damage is quite considerable — the place has been completely destroyed.

“One of the buildings is rubble — it’s nonrecoverable.

“The smoke was carrying right across the whole airport.

“Police were in attendance too. There were at least two or three police cars.

“The fire is almost out now but there

More than 40 firefighters battled a blaze which gutted a Tayside auction house.