Hard-Left ‘plotted to oust Kezia’
‘Perceived to be an enemy of the cause’
HUGE splits within Scottish Labour widened yesterday as the party became engulfed in open warfare amid claims that hard-Left factions plotted to oust Kezia Dugdale.
Senior politicians launched vicious attacks on each other after acting Scottish leader Alex Rowley appeared to admit there was a plot to remove Miss Dugdale.
But leadership frontrunner Richard Leonard’s staff accused MSP Jackie Baillie of talking rubbish after she questioned whether he was involved in the plot.
Miss Dugdale also stoked the row by criticising Jeremy Corbyn and claiming his supporters are trying to stamp out dissent.
The extraordinary war of words came as Mr Corbyn took to the stage at Labour’s conference in Brighton to pledge to work with the party’s next Scottish leader on a ‘unifying socialist message’.
Yesterday, the Sun newspaper revealed it had obtained a secret recording of Mr Rowley – who has pledged to remain neutral in the leadership election – confirming he believed Mr Leonard has ‘everything we need to win in 2021’.
Although he insisted that Miss Dugdale’s resignation as Scottish party leader was unexpected, he added: ‘Any private discussions we were having, we were very clear that… we didn’t think it would happen before 2021. We, privately, we didn’t believe Kezia would be there in 2021.
‘But not right now. It came as a surprise to us. So our view was that Richard was the best person and therefore we should go with that plan. But he has now to get elected of course.’
After the story broke, East Lothian MP Martin Whitfield, campaign manager for Mr Leonard’s leadership rival Anas Sarwar, condemned Mr Rowley, saying he was ‘extremely concerned about the underlying story about the campaign against Kez’. Miss Baillie, one of Labour’s longest serving and most senior MSPs, also issued a statement attacking Mr Rowley and questioning Mr Leonard’s involvement.
She said: ‘Alex Rowley’s hypocrisy is incredibly disappointing. But what is most concerning is the revelations about a plot against Kezia Dugdale.
‘Kez was elected with a huge majority and it will infuriate members to learn that some MSPs were working behind the scenes to undermine her and replace her with Richard Leonard.’
Mr Leonard’s campaign team issued a statement titled ‘comment on latest Jackie Baillie p***’, saying: ‘If there were any attempts to undermine Kezia, they did not involve Richard and he knew nothing of them.’
It came as Mr Corbyn told members in Brighton that ‘Labour is on the way back in Scotland’. After thanking Miss Dugdale and Mr Rowley, he said: ‘Whoever next leads Scottish Labour, I’ll be working with them delivering the unifying socialist message that will continue to inspire both south and north of the Border.’
Earlier, Miss Dugdale said Mr Corbyn’s supporters were stamping out criticism by accusing people who criticise him of being ‘enemies’ of Labour. She also spoke in an interview on BBC Radio Five of the ‘toxic’ splits in the party north of the Border.
Addressing the hard-Left factions tightening their grip on the party across the UK, she said: ‘One of my concerns at the moment is… that if anybody so much as utters a slightly critical word of Jeremy Corbyn, then suddenly they are perceived to be some sort of enemy of the cause.’