THE Labour Party yesterday tried to draw a line under the controversy surrounding a re-selection row in the seat of its Scottish leader Iain Gray by lifting the suspension of its East Lothian constituency - with no disciplinary charges.
THE Labour Party yesterday tried to draw a line under the controversy surrounding a re-selection row in the seat of its Scottish leader Iain Gray by lifting the suspension of its East Lothian constituency - with no disciplinary charges.
More than 100 members of the Labour group met yesterday to hear the outcome of a national party investigation into an attempt to remove the sitting MP Anne Moffat.
The ruling committee of the East Lothian Labour constituency, which is the largest in Scotland, was suspended in November after it passed a motion of no confidence in Ms Moffat and accused her of bringing the party "into disrepute". The motion followed a series of rows between Ms Moffat and members of the local executive committee.
Ms Moffat, a Labour MP since 2001, was re-selected to stand in East Lothian at the next Westminster election, with the support of affiliated trade union votes.
Local party members were split over whether to automatically endorse her. Four of the six local branches in East Lothian declined to support her, with three of those branches voting to open a selection process which could have led to her being replaced. Ms Moffat, a former president of Unison, was re-selected with trade union block votes.
The row is acutely embarrassing for Mr Gray, the Scottish Labour leader who represents East Lothian at Holyrood, and he was relieved yesterday when a panel from the party's Scottish Executive and UK National Executive lifted the suspension on the party's business.
The panel, led by Labour treasurer Jack Dromey, spent two days in the constituency taking evidence from disgruntled members.
"They found no evidence that would challenge the validity of the selection process," said a spokesman for the Labour Party. "There will be no disciplinary sanctions whatsoever and there is a widespread and genuine desire to move forwards."
After the meeting in Prestonpans, Willie Innes, chairman of the local party, said: "We welcome the quick resolution to this issue.
"There was very broad agreement from the members at the meeting that the local party has to move on.
"We have important work to do and we are all determined to improve the way we work together in order that we can continue to be one of the best local Labour parties in Scotland."
Ms Moffat said she was pleased to have the matter resolved quickly and would be working closely with the local party in the months ahead.
The SNP candidate for East Lothian, Andrew Sharp, said Labour was more interested in internal fighting than in working for the constituency.
Labour now runs the risk that a faction of the local party could run an independent candidate against Ms Moffat in a general election.
