Labour in chaos over funding for Dugdale’s legal battle

SCOTTISH Labour descended into chaos yesterday after MSPs attended a meeting to discuss whether Kezia Dugdale should be given funding for her legal battle against a blogger.

The group meeting at Holyrood lasted an hour and only ended after one angry member was seen banging a table before walking out.

Former leader Miss Dugdale has said she was ‘crushed’ after finding out she may have to finance a legal battle with blogger Stuart Campbell herself.

He is suing her for £25,000 after she claimed he had made homophobic comments about Scottish Secretary David Mundell.

Initially Labour had committed to funding the case, but new General Secretary Jennie

‘MSPs growing angry over issue’

Formby has said no more money will be given to Miss Dugdale.

The decision has sparked fury in the party, with MSPs growing angry over the issue and leader Richard Leonard’s failure to step in. According to sources Mr Leonard is losing authority over the group as he faces a backlash over the Labour decision.

Last week MSPs drafted a statement calling for Miss Dugdale’s funding to be reinstated, but this was edited after it was seen by Mr Leonard on his return from the Labour conference.

Yesterday, they held the first group meeting since the incident – where it is understood Mr Leonard did not discuss the issue, despite MSPs venting their anger.

The meeting ended when Elaine Smith walked out of the room after banging on a table.

According to sources, the group failed to reach a conclusion on the issue and it will be discussed further.

Miss Dugdale and Mr Leonard refused to comment.