A CIVIL rights lawyer has ruled himself out of the race to become an MP at May's General Election.
Aamer Anwar, who was a leading voice in the Yes campaign in the run-up to the independence referendum and recently joined the SNP, had been tipped as a candidate for the Glasgow Central seat.
However, he confirmed yesterday that he would not be standing, saying the decision was the right one for him and his family.
In a statement, he said: "It was a real honour to be considered as worthy by so many to consider challenging Labour for the seat. However as one of the many thousands who recently joined the SNP, I was conscious that in over 25 years as a campaigner, with 14 of those as a lawyer my strength has been in never toeing a party line and speaking without fear or favour.
"I still have many legal commitments, clients as well as campaigns such as those of Mohammad Asghar who still remains on death row whom I cannot walk away from to fight an election or beyond.
"Becoming a lawyer was a dream hard fought for which I am not yet ready to give up on and justice is of course devolved to Holyrood."
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