The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Labour MP has say in deselection wrangle
Labour’s Ian Murray said he could run as an independent candidate if deselected by Labour.
The Edinburgh South MP spoke out after reports the Unite union will attempt to trigger a deselection process against him.
Under Labour Party rules, a contest to replace a sitting MP is triggered if a third of local members or affiliated unions back it.
Mr Murray is a vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on Brexit.
He won the Edinburgh South seat for Labour in 2010 and became the party’s only Scottish MP five years later when a wipeout north of the border saw them lose 40 out of the 41 seats.
He insisted an attempt by the Unite union to deselect him would be unsuccessful, but added that if it did happen he would have a “decision to make” on whether to stand as an independent candidate.
Mr Murray told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “If Unite want to try to deselect me on Thursday I am sure the membership of South Edinburgh – that I get on very well with and have their full, wholehearted support – will take a very dim view of and will vote accordingly.”
Pressed on what could happen if he was ousted from the candidacy, he said: “I would have a decision to make about whether I would stand.”
He added: “But certainly I can guarantee that if the Labour Party ... put in some hard-left Marxist candidate they won’t win the seat of Edinburgh South. That would be damaging to the Labour Party and damaging to the country.”
Mr Murray said he had not spoken to the Labour Party leadership about the move to deselect him.
However, he would “expect” their support.
Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman branded reports Mr Murray could be ousted from his constituency as “total madness”.