Scottish Labour MP Michael Shanks to speak at major pro-Union event

Michael Shanks’s appearance at the Scotland in Union annual Burns Night supper comes despite him previously saying that the constitutional debate is so “incredibly divisive” that he cannot even talk about it to his own sister.

The event is to be held at Glasgow’s Grosvenor Hotel on January 25, with tickets priced at £50 per person or £450 for a table of 10.

Jamie Stone, the LibDem MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, has also been confirmed as a speaker at the annual event. A third speaker is due to be announced “very soon”.

An event listing sent to Scotland in Union members says the ticket price includes a three-course meal and a “dram of whisky to toast the haggis”.

It also says there will be “traditional speeches” as well as a “lively raffle with fantastic prizes,” for which they are also asking for donations.

The Scotland in Union campaign group was established in 2015 and is run by Pamela Nash, a former Labour MP who has been selected to run for the party again at the next General Election.

Shanks’s appearance at the event comes despite previous comments labelling the constitutional debate in Scotland “incredibly divisive,” saying the 2014 referendum campaign “tore families and communities apart”.

Speaking to Holyrood magazine last October, Shanks said his sister was a Yes voter and he could not even talk to her about the topic.

“It’s just a subject we have to completely ignore and it’s actually really difficult,” Shanks said.

The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West said the by-election campaign in which he won a seat had seen people “slightly moving beyond” the constitutional debate, which he said was “one of the really good things” about it.

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SNP MP Tommy Sheppard hit out at Shanks over the appearance, saying he had shown he would always "put Westminster before Scotland".

Sheppard said: “This will be bitterly disappointing to those within the Labour party who recognise the need for independence as an escape from the Tories, and only further proves Scottish Labour MPs exist only to prop up the failing Westminster system.

“If Michael Shanks is an example of what a larger group of Scottish Labour MPs will do it’s clear no alternative to the Tories or this grim status quo exists for Scotland without independence.

“Despite a failing economy, compounding Brexit damage, a Tory-made cost of living crisis and attacks on worker’s rights, he has, at every opportunity, put Westminster before Scotland and before his constituents.

“With Westminster failing us on every issue the last thing Scotland needs is MPs who’ll fight for more Westminster control. We need a real alternative with the full powers of independence."

An Alba spokesperson said: “This is just another example of just how out of touch Labour are with the people they claim to be serving. £50 is simply extortionate, particularly in a time where people, including in Michael Shank’s constituency, are having to choose between heating and eating.

"Scotland’s shadow minister has well and truly shanked this one into the rough. “

Shanks (above) was quickly elevated to Labour’s frontbench after his election, taking on a role as a shadow Scotland Office minister.

During the by-election campaign, Shanks had insisted that Scottish Labour group leader Anas Sarwar would be his boss and he would oppose Keir Starmer on key issues.

However, since being elected he has fallen into line behind Starmer, facing protests at an event at Rutherglen Town Hall over his failure to join Sarwar in calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Instead, Shanks has backed Starmer’s position on the conflict in the war-torn region.