LABOUR activists heading to Perth for their annual Scottish conference are in for a rare treat, when Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Dave Anderson makes one of his infrequent appearances north of the border.
Anderson’s speech on Sunday is expected to be the first he has made on Scottish affairs since taking the job last July.
Scottish Tories have criticised the veteran Labour MP, saying he is proof of how meaningless the party now are in Scotland.
They also claim it will be just the fourth time in seven months that the Blaydon MP has been in the country fulfilling the duties of his job.
Anderson was here in July to meet representatives from the oil and gas industry and again in October to attend a lecture delivered by Jeremy Corbyn. He was back in November to call for an investigation into miners’ strike policing.
There have also been few public sightings of Anderson with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale. They were together at a Burns Supper organised by Labour North in Newcastle on January 20, although Anderson, who is also Corbyn’s spokesman on Northern Ireland, later had to apologise for a joke he made about the IRA during a speech.
He told guests he once mixed up a CND representative with Mitchel McLaughlin, the one-time General Secretary of Sinn Fein. He then quipped that, once his mistake was pointed out, he said he “knew it was something about bombs”.
In August, Dugdale snubbed Anderson on his first visit to Scotland. Anderson then sent an email to a colleague, saying the Scottish Labour leader was “blanking” him.
Much to the annoyance of the Scottish wing of the party, the loyal Corbynite also went off script during that visit, telling STV he would not rule out a coalition with the SNP: “If that is the price that we have to pay to prevent another rabid right-wing Tory government then we have got to at least think about it and discuss it.”
Anderson has previously said he would “like to do more in Scotland” but is worried about upsetting Holyrood colleagues.
“To some extent, it’s this dichotomy for me not wanting to step on the toes of the people in Holyrood and trying to find a balance that will work,” he told The Herald last month.
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins told the National: “People will be wondering if Dave Anderson even knows who Kezia Dugdale is.
“It’s quite remarkable that they’ve hardly been able to get together after all this time.
“By his own admission, he knows basically nothing about the job or Scotland, so you’d think he would be up here at every opportunity. This is just another indication of how disjointed Labour are, and how meaningless a force they’re becoming in Scottish politics.”
A spokesman for Dave Anderson said: “This is factually incorrect utter nonsense from the Tories. Since being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Dave has carried out a number of engagements in Scotland, including meetings with training bodies, oil and gas companies, disability groups, charities, trade unions, the legal profession, academics, former miners and other groups.
“He has met with Kezia Dugdale in the Scottish Parliament and is in regular contact with her and other Scottish Labour MSPs. He also holds Scottish Secretary David Mundell to account, exposing his party’s callous cuts to communities.
“We will take no lessons about Scotland from a Tory party that has put our Union in jeopardy once again – only Labour is standing up for what the majority of Scots want – a strong Scotland in the UK with a close relationship with our European neighbours.”
A SNP Source said: “Labour’s man in Scotland obviously wants nothing to do with the job – and that’s probably one of the few areas where he’d find common ground with Kezia Dugdale.”
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