Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and former leadership challenger Anas Sarwar have been vocal in the last week or two on the issue of alleged racism in the Scottish party.
Sarwar claimed that a Labour councillor told him during last year’s leadership election that voters were “not ready for a Muslim, brown p**i”, but has not named or reported the councillor in question.
Sarwar also told the Daily Record that another ‘senior Labour member’ did not back him because his wife wears a hijab and has proposed an “8-point plan” in response – and wrote a lengthy piece on the topic of racism and Islamophobia for the LabourList website.
Dugdale has supported Sarwar’s plan on social media.
When diversity training was mandated for his fellow MSP Hugh Gaffney, after Gaffney admitted making offensive remarks about LGBT and Chinese people, Sarwar responded by reiterating his plan.
According to the Scottish S*n, he also refused to sit with his party leader during First Minister’s Questions this week in protest at the supposed ‘let off’ for Gaffney.
Scottish Labour insiders have questioned the timing of these events, pointing out that the alleged racist comments took place last year during the leadership contest, while the right has recently been trying to undermine Leonard by removing his supporters from the party’s Scottish Executive Committee.
In an exclusive on Saturday, the SKWAWKBOX revealed that ‘centrist’ Labour MP Stella Creasy was challenged by a black colleague over her use, in a parliamentary WhatsApp group, of a cartoon image of a black child from a 1980s soft drink advertising campaign.
One of Creasy’s black constituents described it as a ‘racist advert’ and called for the party to take disciplinary action. MPs and other senior Labour figures told the SKWAWKBOX they were deeply unhappy about the image. Ms Creasy has not responded so far to a request for comment.
In view of their response to alleged issues in the Scottish Labour party, the SKWAWKBOX asked whether they would comment on Creasy’s use of the ‘racist ad’ that so offended BAME members and MPs.
So far, neither has responded.
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