A SCOTTISH Labour candidate has been suspended by the party following reports that he shared material online which appeared to downplay Russia’s role in the Salisbury poisonings.
The BBC reports Andy Brown, who is standing in Aberdeen North and Moray East, in April 2018 shared an article from Russian state media outlet RT (formerly known as Russia Today) which claimed the “toxin” used in the poisonings was “never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other Nato states”.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, which had been left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.
It followed the attempted murders of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and ex-police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March that year.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar pledges tax cuts ... but says no money to end two-child cap
All three survived, as did Sturgess’s boyfriend, Charlie Rowley.
The Metropolitan Police identified three suspects wanted in connection with the poisonings: Denis Sergeev, Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the aliases Sergey Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov respectively while in the UK.
According to the Press and Journal, in the same month Brown also shared a quote from a Jewish historian which said: “The real issue.. is that right-wing Jews in the Labour party and outside the party object to the fact that Jeremy Corbyn is a consistent supporter of Palestinian rights.”
Brown (above) completely denied having made or shared the posts, telling BBC News: "I didn’t share those. Where they’ve been shared from or how has someone accessed my account and shared them, it may have been corrupted at some point – but honestly, I did not share those."
He went on: "No, I definitely didn’t make that. I would never like these at all. It’s not the sort of comments I would comment on."
A spokesman for Scottish Labour told the BBC: “Andy Brown has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation.
“We have taken the decision to withdraw support from a Parliamentary candidate during a General Election.
“Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer have changed the Labour Party and said that every candidate and MP would operate to the highest standards. This action shows that they meant it.”
Brown will still appear as a Labour candidate on the ballot as the deadline for nominations has passed, meaning he will stand as an independent if elected on July 4.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel