SCOTTISH Labour leadership hopeful Richard Leonard took a sideswipe at his rival Anas Sarwar when he pointedly underlined that one-fifth of Glasgow workers earn less than the £8.45 real Living Wage.

Leonard made the comments in his opening statement at the first public hustings of the leadership contest, minutes before the party’s Scottish executive chairwoman Linda Stewart banned members of the audience from asking questions about the contenders’ financial interests or domestic affairs.

There were murmurings of discontent among the 200 people in the audience at Glasgow Concert Hall when Stewart announced – before opening the debate up to the floor – that there should be no questions about financial arrangements. One journalist present tweeted: “Jeepers. Announcement at Labour hustings that there’s to be no questions about candidates’ financial arrangements or domestic circumstances.”

Sarwar’s campaign has been plagued by issues over his wealth, his family’s business United Wholesale (Scotland) Ltd, and the failure of the company to ensure all staff are paid the Living Wage.

The Glasgow MSP owns around a quarter of the shares in the company, with his stake worth an estimated £4.8 million. Yet it emerged some staff at the firm are paid £7.50 an hour, lower than the £8.45 real Living Wage championed by Scottish Labour. The cash-and-carry also has no formal trade union recognition in place for its 250 staff.

The issue dominated political discussions all day yesterday after Sarwar suggested during a morning radio interview that his family’s company did not pay the Living Wage as it was not mandatory to do so.

Giving his opening statement at Glasgow Concert Hall last night Leonard revisited the subject.

He spoke about Scotland’s “deep-seated” economic, social and environmental problems and how Glasgow was particularly affected by such problems.

“Inequality is rife,” he said. “One-third of all Glasgow’s children live in poverty. The gap in life expectancy between the rich and the poor is shocking. We have hidden mass unemployment with almost one-third of working-age adults economically inactive.”

Leonard added: “What work there is is all too often precarious, short-term, agency and zero-hours, with one in five Glasgow workers earning less than the Living Wage of £8.45 an hour.”

During the interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Sarwar was also forced to deny that being a millionaire, who sends his children to a £10,000-a-year private school, meant he was “one of the few”.

Asked if he was one “few”, despite UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn promising to stand up for “the many, not the few”, Sarwar said: “No I don’t accept that at all. The reason I’m in the Labour Party is because I don’t choose to opt out of politics. I choose to fight for equality, to fight for opportunity. That’s why I’m in the Labour Party.”

Asked if pay levels at the family firm undermined his credibility, he answered: “The difference is I don’t support a voluntary real living wage. I support a mandatory real living wage. I don’t think it’s right that the market dictates what a fair day’s pay is, and that’s why I want it to be a compulsory policy.”

Sarwar added that he had no real influence in the business, saying: “One, I’m a minority shareholder in the company. Secondly, I have no role in the company. I’m not a director in the company. I have no say in how the company operates.

“But I have had assurances from the company that they do want to transition to a real living wage for all employees.”

The contest has been called after Kezia Dugdale stood down following barely two years in the job. She claimed the party need a new leader with “fresh energy and a new mandate” and denied suggestions she had resigned to avoid conflicts with Corbyn’s supporters. Sarwar said he was standing as he was “scunnered” with Scottish politics.