SCOTTISH Labour party bosses refused Kezia Dugdale permission to take part in the reality TV show I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, the new Scottish Labour leader said.
Richard Leonard, who was elected to the top job on Saturday, said his predecessor had sought permission from Labour leaders before heading to the Australian jungle. But he added his understanding was that the party had not agreed to it.
Labour MSPs will now have to consider if the former leader, who dramatically quit the job in August, should be suspended or not.
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that this would not be appropriate, arguing it was Dugdale’s choice to take part in the TV programme, which also includes boxer Amir Khan, Boris Johnson’s father Stanley and The Saturdays’ singer Vanessa White.
But Leonard made clear the party in Scotland would consider imposing such a sanction.
He told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme: “I’ve said over the weekend we need to consider it and I’ve also expressed my own personal disappointment that that was a decision she has chosen to make. There are issues, not just the fact that she is there and the kind of programme it is and people’s view of that, there is also a question about whether she got permission to do it.”
Pressed on whether Dugdale had been given the party’s backing to take part in the show, he stated: “My understanding is she sought permission and wasn’t given permission.”
Leonard added: “There is going to need to be a proper discussion about it, the circumstances around it and whether it is appropriate to take action or not. I am not persuaded the immediate step that the Labour Party needs to take is to suspend Kezia from membership of the Labour Party but I do think we need to have a discussion about it.”
Dugdale remains an MSP for the Lothians region, and her decision to take part in the show prompted an angry reaction from many within the party.
Fellow Labour MSP Neil Findlay described the move as “utterly ludicrous”.
He said: “We have a situation where we’re in the run-up to the budget in Scotland, where local government is on its knees, where the NHS is showing pressures like never before, when people’s living standards are falling and they expect their MPs, MSPs, councillors, elected representatives, to be in fighting on their behalf and I don’t think people would expect them to jet off around the world and sit around the campfire eating a kangaroo’s appendage. I think it demeans politics when people get involved in that.”
Asked about Dugdale’s participation in the programme, Nicola Sturgeon said: “It’s not something I would want to see an SNP MSP do. MSPs are elected to represent their constituents. I think it’s important they do that.”
The FM continued: “I am not sure I entirely understand what Kezia Dugdale thinks she will benefit from this. I am also not clear what her motivation might be. It’s not a decision I would take. I’m not sure there are many politicians who would choose to do what she is doing. That said, she is in the Scottish Labour Party - they appear to be a nest of vipers, so perhaps getting away from that to the jungle, when you see it in that context, it’s easier to understand.” She added: “She’s decided to do it, so you know what, good luck to her.”
A source close to Dugdale confirmed she had asked Labour’s Holyrood business manager James Kelly for permission to go, but this was refused as the leadership election was ongoing, and the winning candidate could appoint a new business manager. It is understood she then approached Leonard and rival candidate Anas Sarwar, to ask if she could go away for three weeks. Both men agreed but Dugdale did not tell them she would be going on the show.
Dugdale’s partner, the SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, posted a message of support on Twitter: “I see @scottishlabour have developed their own unique take on the final day of #AntiBullyingWeek. Huge props, comrades! #TeamKez.”
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