Labour is beset by infighting and needs to ‘ take a look at itself ’, says MSP
Anas Sar war has ruled out making a fresh bid for the Scottish Labour leadership, as he said the party needs to “urgently take a look at itself ”.
In an open letter to Labour members i n Gl a s g ow, h e urged l eaders Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Leonard to tackle infighting and do more than “speak for a clique or faction” within the party. His plea came at the end of a disastrous week for Scottish Labour, with the party polling just 9 per cent in the European election.
In addition, MSPS Neil Findlay and Daniel Johnson quit the party’s Holyrood frontbench team.
Mr S ar war, who l ost out to Mr Leonard in a leadership contest after Kezia Dugdale quit, insisted: “The Scottish Labour Party needs to urgently take a look at itself and change if we are to ever compete, never mind be the party of Scotland again.”
But when asked on Twitter if he would be mounting a l e a dershi p c hal l e nge, t he Glasgow MSP r e s p onded: “Categorically no! This is too important to get lost in some kind of pretend personality battle. This is about the survival of our party.”
The E u r o p e a n e l e c t i o n , which saw the party lose the two MEPS it had north of the Border, was the “worst result” in Scottish Labour’s history, Mr Sarwar said.
Fo l l o wi n g t h e e l e c t o r a l trouncing, Mr Leonard said he hoped Scottish Labour would back a second Brexit referendum in all circumstances, and that he would campaign for the UK to stay part of the European Union.
Members of the party’s Scottish executive committee will decide whether to adopt this as official policy when they meet on 8 June.
Arguing S cottish Labour should be an “unequivocally Remain party” and an “unequivo call y pro - UK par t y”, Mr Sarwar said the “radical” programme Labour is putting for ward in other areas will only get a hearing from voters if the party is “clear on the biggest issues of our day”.