LABOUR’S LGBT+ group is aiming to suspend its devolved Scottish wing amidst a dispute over whether it can nominate or endorse candidates in elections.
The move, from the England-dominated branch, has been read as an attempt to overrule the party’s internal devolution and silence Scottish voices ahead of the Holyrood party’s leadership election.
The Scottish wing had endorsed and promoted several MSP candidates before a letter sent out on Hogmanay by the London group said those candidates should “not claim to be endorsed or nominated by LGBT+ Labour or our subsidiaries ... as this is not the case”.
The London branch claimed the Scottish sub group had been acting “ultra vires” and in breach of their organisation’s rules.
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However, as the dispute unfolded, the co-chair of the UK group, Heather Peto, said that the officers who made the claim had themselves been acting “ultra vires”.
She said the party’s internal rules on devolution would allow the Scottish wing to endorse candidates in Scottish elections without the London body interfering.
Peto said the Hogmanay letter had come after an allegation that a member of UK Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) had asked LGBT+ Labour UK to intervene, but that it had “not made sense” at the time.
However, in the wake of Richard Leonard’s resignation, concerns were raised that the NEC was trying to silence Scottish LGBT+ voices, voices which would likely promote more left-wing members of the party in the leadership election.
In doing so she echoed Neil Findlay, an MSP for the Lothian region, who described a “poisonous” culture among those in Scottish Labour who do not want left-wingers in the party.
Peto also raised concerns that the LGBT+ group would not be able to endorse a candidate who supports trans rights at a time when those rights are coming increasingly under attack.
She added: “LGBT+ Labour UK should not interfere in our Scottish group’s devolved right to nominate and endorse. Devolved bodies have a better idea of how to advance LGBT+ rights in their nation.”
Since devolution, Scottish Labour has only elected one openly LGBT parliamentarian, Kezia Dugdale.
Activists have said this is “not a record to be proud of”.
Leonard’s resignation means the party will be rushing to elect a new leader in plenty of time before the Holyrood elections in May. A timescale announced yesterday says a new leader will be declared on February 27.
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