Brexit feud and gaffes mar Leonard’s first conference
Scottish Labour hit by infighting and accusations of ‘stitch-up’ on EU single market vote
SCOTTISH Labour’s first conference under its new leader has been overshadowed by infighting over Brexit, with accusations of a “stitch-up” and misinformation campaign.
Richard Leonard’s efforts to raise his profile in Dundee were undermined by feuding between groups of party members for and against membership of the EU single market.
Former Glasgow MP Ian Davidson, a Brexiter supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, had a heated row with MEP Catherine Stihler at a fringe meeting, telling her: “What you’re saying is simply false.”
Ms Stihler later accused Mr Corbyn of pandering to anti-immigrant sentiment after he said he wanted a Brexit that stopped employers “being able to import cheap agency labour”.
The fighting coincided with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer saying Labour had “the unity of purpose to deliver the Brexit deal Scotland needs”.
The opening day of the first conference since Mr Leonard became leader four months ago was also struck by a series of embarrassing gaffes.
▪ The party misspelled the name of its founder Keir Hardie as “Keir Hardy” on the main stage, leading to comparisons with Laurel and Hardy on social media.
▪ Shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird demanded the UK Government lift a shroud of secrecy around key Brexit powers after they had already been made public.
▪ Mr Corbyn had to change the text of his speech after getting the number of Scottish MPS wrong in an early draft that had been given to the press.
The row over Brexit came just days after the launch of a group called Scottish Labour for the Single Market led by Ms Stihler, former Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale, and one of Mr Corbyn’s harshest internal critics, the Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray.
Six constituency Labour parties (CLPS), including Mr Murray’s, tabled motions for a debate on Sunday calling for Scottish Labour to make staying in the EU single market its policy.
This clashes with Mr Corbyn and Mr Leonard’s position, which is to keep the UK in “a” customs union, but quit the single market, unless it can accommodate a radical programme for public ownership, greater workers’ rights and an economy “for the many, not the few”.
At the last minute, and with the support of the unions, the Scottish Labour’s ruling executive committee put forward its own “unity” statement, which omitted the single market demand.
This will take precedent in the voting order in Sunday’s debate, and with delegates expected to back it, it will head off a vote on the single market proposal. A leadership source said single market membership was being pushed by an “out-of-touch political elite” and an “Edinburgh clique”, and the Scottish party just didn’t want it.
A senior trade union figure also accused the idea’s promoters of trying “to undermine Jeremy and Richard Leonard” as part of a wider political fight between moderates and the left.
A source close to the single market group said there had been a classic backroom “stitch-up”, but admitted it was a “clever leadership tactic” to stymie a vote on the issue.
Mr Corbyn used his speech to conference yesterday to set out a series of pre-conditions for Labour’s approach to the single market, which underlined his own Euroscepticism.
Ms Stihler said it was “disappointing” that Labour members would not get a vote on the issue, but said “the campaign to protect jobs and defend workers’ rights will continue”.
It led to a public spat with Mr Davidson at a fringe on Brexit, at which he accused her pro-eu
campaign of peddling bogus information and misleading people about party procedure.
He said it was “totally false” to suggest those who wanted the single market would be denied a vote, as they could vote to reject the leadership’s statement if they wanted.
He told Ms Stihler: “What you’re saying is simply false. It’s a suggestion put forward by your campaign that people are being deprived of the right to vote. That is simply not true.”
Mr Stihler replied: “I think it would have been preferable if the Scottish executive statement had in it the words, We are committed to the single market. That’s not happening.”
Mr Corbyn insisted the party was “absolutely not” blocking a debate.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said that if delegates rejected the Scottish Executive statement, the single market proposal could still go to a vote. However insiders said the odds of that happening were vanishingly small.
Mr Leonard said: “In the end it will be the conference that will decide, so I’m quite happy that we’re conducting this in a very open and democratic way.”
SNP MSP George Adam said: “Labour remain hopelessly split over Brexit.
“The Labour leadership know they’re hopelessly at odds with their own members.”