Tangled Webs

I read this article by Paul Hutcheon in the Sunday Herald a couple of weeks ago and meant to write something for the blog site at the time.

Because the whole unseemly episode reminds me of the rather nasty selection fight in Glasgow Govan years ago - when Mike Watson and Mohammed Sarwar battled it out to become the candidate in what was, at the time, regarded as a safe Labour seat.

As I recall, there were accusations of scores of new members joining the local Labour Party - for the sole purpose of getting a vote in the selection contest.

Now this was regarded as very bad form by some - even though it happened all the time - and the charge of foul play was directed mainly at the Sarwar camp which many people regarded as unfair.

Again, if I remember correctly the contest was re-run following a deluge of complaints about the parachuting in of new members for this one purpose only - and national Labour officials were brought in to sort the whole sorry mess out.

So history maybe repeating itself - only this time in Falkirk rather than Glasgow, of course.

I'm sure that Mohammed Sarwar eventually won the nomination and that Mike Watson was given the consolation prize of a seat in the House of Lords - where Mike (a former full-time official with the MSF union - now Unite) became Lord Watson of Invergowrie.

But Mike made a comeback as an MSP in the Scottish Parliament in 1999 after fighting and winning the Glasgow Cathcart seat - before things unravelled badly again after a night of heavy drinking at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh in 2004 - which ended up with Mike being sent to prison for 'wilful fire raising'.  

A tangled web right enough and having served his sentence - I think Mike may even now have rejoined the Scottish Labour Party. 

Labour party members face Joyce seat vote ban

By Paul Hutcheon

Dozens of party members could be ineligible to vote in Labour's selection contest to replace disgraced MP Eric Joyce after fears were raised about how they joined up.

A Labour troubleshooter has told up to 90 new members in Falkirk they will only be permitted to take part in the ballot if they fill in a direct debit mandate.

Mr Joyce quit Labour last year after he pled guilty to four counts of assault in a House of Commons bar.

His departure means Labour must select a new candidate to stand in Falkirk for the 2015 General Election.

Three of the contenders are former council leader Linda Gow, digital communications expert Gregor Poynton and Karie Murphy, who is being heavily backed by the Unite trade union.

Unite's approach in the constituency has been under scrutiny after the union paid the postage for a "consultative survey" on whether an all-women shortlist should be used for the safe seat.

The consultation was suspended by the party after fears were expressed that the survey was flawed.

Eric Wilson, the UK party's senior constitutional officer, was then drafted in to sort out what one insider called a gigantic mess.

Scottish Labour has now intervened over the large number of new members who have joined the local party in Falkirk.

A report produced by a group inside Unite previously stated the union recruited "well over 100 Unite members" to the local constituency party last year.

Concern about the recruitment surge has been followed by Mr Wilson writing to new members who were signed up as far back as last summer.

He wrote: "There have been concerns raised about the considerable number of new members who have joined the local party since July 2012. There have also been questions raised about the validity of some of these new applications."

Mr Wilson also noted that the new membership subscriptions had been paid by either cash or cheque, but that "no continuous payment method" was processed at the same time.

He added that voting in the selection contest was conditional on the members completing a direct debit mandate for their second year.

The official concluded: "When concerns are raised with us we have to put in place appropriate procedures to guarantee the veracity of the membership."

A party source said that up to 90 of the members may have received a letter.

The source added that many, but not all, of the individuals contacted were part of the Unite sign-up.

Earlier this month, local party vice-chairman Richard Bryce resigned his post after citing division in the local party.

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "The Scottish Labour Party is taking steps to ensure an accurate and up-to-date list of eligible members who can participate in the candidate selection.

"We are confident in our procedures and that local members will be able to select the best candidate to represent the people of Falkirk in Westminster."