Murray attacks bid by hard-Left to ‘purge’ party of moderates
IAN Murray has launched an unprecedented attack on Unite boss Len McCluskey and the Labour hard-Left after fighting off a deselection bid.
The Scottish Labour MP accused the militant union chief of being more interested in a ‘purge’ of party moderates than fighting for working people.
He also claimed that Momentum – the grassroots organisation behind Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – and the wider hard-Left are seeking to ‘settle scores’ to boost their own career prospects.
Mr Murray was the only Labour MP left in Scotland after the party’s disastrous performance in the 2015 general election.
He quit the shadow cabinet because of his concerns over the direction the party was taking under Mr Corbyn.
Last week, Unite attempted to force Mr Murray into a selection battle, claiming he had ‘consistently undermined the Labour leadership’ and ‘attacked our union’.
But it did not have the support to trigger a contest, with Mr Murray overwhelmingly backed by other unions and members of his constituency party in Edinburgh South.
Last night, the MP hit back at Mr McCluskey, including over his refusal to campaign for a second Brexit vote.
Mr Murray said: ‘He has consistently backed facilitating Brexit and stood in the way of a People’s Vote.
‘He is letting down the workers he is supposed to represent.
‘Unfortunately, he is far more interested in purging the Labour Party of moderate, sensible voices than he is in giving a voice to ordinary people.
‘I am not the only Labour MP in the UK who has had to devote time to a potential reselection battle. Across the country, Momentum and the hard-Left are seeking to settle scores.
‘In some cases, they’re using Labour’s “trigger” system to advance their own career prospects, hoping to purge sitting MPs and replace them with those who unquestionably follow the leadership line.
‘The result is that hard-working MPs are forced to get involved in reselection battles and are being distracted from doing their jobs at this crucial time for our country.’
He added: ‘The reason Unite came for me was because I dared to question its leadership’s priorities. Brexit is going to be a catastrophe
for the United Kingdom. It is going to hurt our economy and will cost people their jobs. It will cost Unite members their jobs.
‘The trade union movement which represents those workers should be fighting it every step of the way.’
It is understood that Mr Corbyn did not contact Mr Murray in the wake of Unite’s deselection bid.
Asked whether he backed the Edinburgh South MP, Mr Corbyn said: ‘I back all Labour candidates.
‘I’m the leader of the party, we are proud that our party is a democratic party, the local constituencies choose their candidates and my job is to support every Labour candidate and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.’
Mr Corbyn is visiting Scotland and will today address the Unite conference in Ayr on workers’ rights and pledge that a Labour government would invest in public services.