LABOUR has been accused of presiding over a “Hokey Cokey chaos” after shadow secretary of state for Scotland Dave Anderson stepped down from Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee.
The jibe came as Mr Anderson was replaced by Labour’s only MP north of the Border, Ian Murray, who has refused to serve in Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench team.
Mr Anderson, the MP for Blaydon in north-east England, was appointed as shadow Scottish secretary after Edinburgh South MP Mr Murray quit the post in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership, as part of a mass walk out by members of the party’s frontbench at Westminster.
Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee website still has Mr Anderson listed as a member, although Commons order papers state that he will be replaced by Mr Murray, a key ally of Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, on Monday, 5 September 5, when MPs return from the summer recess.
The SNP claimed the swapping of senior positions showed that the shadow cabinet was not taking the Scottish portfolio seriously, although Labour says it is normal parliamentary procedure for frontbenchers not to sit on Westminster select committees, which have cross-party membership.
Mr Murray was recently appointed to Kezia Dugdale’s Holyrood-based frontbench team as Scottish Labour’s Westminster spokesman, despite his refusal to serve in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet in the Commons.
Last night, SNP MP Stewart McDonald said the latest shake-up of Labour’s Scottish parliamentary posts showed that the party was in chaos, days after Ms Dugdale was jeered at a leadership hustings debate in Glasgow.
A section of the audience laughed when Owen Smith, who is standing against Mr Corbyn in the leadership election, said Ms Dugdale was doing a “brilliant job”.
Mr Corbyn reacted by calling on Labour members to show “respect” to the Scottish Labour leader and said he did not think anyone should be jeered.
But, a senior source close to Mr Corbyn later said that Ms Dugdale should be put “out in the wilderness”, partly due to her close links with Mr Murray, who was a key mover in the mass shadow cabinet resignation and a no-confidence motion passed by members of Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in the leader.
SNP MP Mr McDonald said the “squabbling” within Scottish Labour showed that the party was not taking its responsibilities properly as an official opposition and that Mr Andreson was being deliberately undermined.
Mr McDonald said: “The shadow Scottish secretary is supposed to stand up for Scotland’s interests and hold the UK Government to account on Scottish affairs, but instead of taking this role seriously Labour can’t even find an MP who wants to stay in the job.
“The Hokey Cokey chaos of Labour’s shadow cabinet reaches new levels of absurdity with each passing week.
“We now have the ridiculous situation of a shadow Scottish secretary who openly says he doesn’t want to do the job, doesn’t have time for the job, supports cutting Scotland’s budget, and is being deliberately undermined by his own colleagues in Scotland.
“While the Labour Party is busy squabbling and infighting they are utterly failing in their responsibilities to the country as the official opposition to the Tory government.
“The SNP may not be granted the title of the official opposition but in reality we are the only strong, united and effective opposition to the Tories.
“Unlike Labour the SNP will always stand up for Scotland and make its voice heard.”
Mr Anderson’s office, when contacted yesterday, declined to respond to the SNP’s criticisms.
Scottish Labour has repeatedly stated that Ms Dugdale is overwhelmingly supported by party members north of the Border, who elected her as leader more than a year ago by a decisive margin.
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