Labour MSP brands ex-leader ‘insincere’

A leading figure on the left of Scottish Labour has launched a stinging attack on the party’s former leader, Jim Murphy, claiming he “hasn’t a principled bone in his body”.

Neil Findlay claimed the former MP was “insincere” and would “brief and undermine colleagues” to further his ambitions. Mr Murphy’s troubled six-month leadership of Labour ended with the party’s near wipe-out in the 2015 general election.

In his diary, Socialism and Hope, Mr Findlay argues Labour should have kept its distance from the cross-party Better Together campaign during 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The West Lothian MSP also accused Mr Murphy of “milking” flashpoints during the campaign which saw him pelted with eggs by independence supporters.

Mr Findlay claimed his Mr Murphy wanted Nationalists to “behave like a rowdy mob so undecided voters will be turned off by it,” adding: “These events are getting worse and worse and the Yes mob who turn up are doing exactly what Murphy wants.”

The book carries a foreword by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who describes the account as “honest, frank and challenging”.