The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Labour to take ‘urgent’ action on poll row
LABOUR HAS announced it will pursue “urgent” disciplinary action over alleged irregularities in the contest to select a candidate in Falkirk, after police said there were “insufficient grounds” for a criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed it was conducting an investigation into claims that data protection rules may have been broken in the Scottish constituency.
Labour handed over documents to police earlier this month amid allegations that Unite — the party’s biggest trade union backer — sought to swing the contest in favour of its preferred candidate by cramming the constituency with more than 100 new members, some of them without their knowledge.
Unite said it had broken neither the law nor Labour Party rules and welcomed the police announcement as “an overdue application of common sense”.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Information Commissioner wrote to Conser vative MP Jake Berry to say its enforcement depar tment will investigate his concerns about “the alleged purchase of multiple Labour Party memberships for Unite members living in the Falkirk constituency”.
Conservative chairman Grant Shapps wrote to Mr Miliband, urging him to publish the Falkirk report and to re-run selection contests in 40 other constituencies where Unite activists have been supporting candidates.
He sa i d : “Indeed this latest action by the Information Commissioner is further justification for immediate action.”