Labour’s shame

THE first step to solving a problem is admitting you have a problem – advice Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard would do well to heed.

His party nationally has been accused of vile anti-Semitism while, closer to home, MP Hugh Gaffney has been forced to undertake ‘equality and diversity training’ after making racist and homophobic remarks during a Burns Supper.

If that solution smacks of trying to sweep an unpleasant affair under the carpet, what to make of Mr Leonard’s invitation to MSP Anas Sarwar to sit in a coveted seat close by him during First Minister’s Questions?

A furious Mr Sarwar made his view clear – he refused to have any truck with the idea, rejecting it as mere tokenism.

Mr Leonard has a lot on his plate as he inherits a party riven by a Left/Right schism that makes Tory divisions over Europe look like a playground spat.

But he must prioritise his battles and top of his overstuffed in-tray ought to be confronting the dinosaurs in his party for whom despicable ideas about race, religion, credo and sexuality remain the norm in a world that moved on long ago.