LABOUR CHAOS OVER BLAIR ‘BRIBE’
Candidate rejects ex-PM’s cash
LABOUR was plunged into chaos last night after a Scottish candidate rejected a £1,000 ‘bribe’ from Tony Blair to bankroll her General Election campaign. Lesley Brennan said her instinct was not to accept the former Prime Minister’s donation – and confirmed she would refuse it after discussions with her local party in Dundee East.
But furious Labour chiefs said last night that the £106,000 from Mr Blair
for 106 seats – five in Scotland – was not her’s to refuse. A Scottish Labour spokesman said: ‘This money is payable to the Labour Party and we look forward to receiving it and using it to campaign against the return of a Tory government.’
Miss Brennan is standing against SNP deputy leader Stuart Hosie and is hoping to overturn his 1,800 majority.
The row is particularly difficult for Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, who is widely regarded as a Blairite.
The Scottish Daily Mail contacted the other four Scottish Labour candidates offered £1,000 for their campaigns, but two did not respond.
Of the two who did, Amanjit Jhund, a doctor standing in East Dunbartonshire, confirmed he would accept the money, saying: ‘I don’t see why I would not. We did not ask for the money but we’ve received donations from Labour members up and down the country. Mr Blair is another member who wants to end Conservative austerity.’
But he defended Miss Brennan’s rejection of the donation. ‘It’s entirely up to her who she accepts money from.’
Labour candidate Mary Galbraith said: ‘We welcome the donation and will use it to campaign in Argyll and Bute to prevent another five years of Tory rule.’
Both the Nationalists and the Tories seized upon the controversy. John Nicholson, the SNP candidate standing against Mr Jhund and incumbent Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson, said: ‘My Labour opponent has accepted a £1,000 donation from Tony Blair. Can’t imagine that will play well on the doorsteps.’
SNP General Election campaign director Angus Robertson said: ‘This preposterous and undemo- cratic position of the Labour Party only underlines the branch office status of the Labour Party in Scotland. Arch-Blairite Jim Murphy must explain why Labour candidates in Scotland are being dictated to in this way – after all, he is meant to be in charge of the party in Scotland.’
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: ‘Two months before the most important General Election of our lifetime and Scottish Labour is a divided, bickering rabble over what appears to be a bribe from its former leader. How can Scottish Labour be expected to fight back against the SNP when it prefers fighting itself?’