Peers allege continued attacks on Scottish Labour leader amounted to �campaign of personal smears�.
By James Hamilton
Senior Labour figures have claimed the party's Scottish leader, Wendy Alexander, is being subjected to a continued "smear campaign".
The Labour MSP, Lord Foulkes, said the line had been crossed from fair public scrutiny to a "concerted attempt" to undermine her integrity and reputation. He said that continued attacks on Alexander devalued the whole of the Scottish political process and undermined the "new politics" which had been hoped for after devolution.
Lord Robertson, a former Nato secretary general, also defended Alexander, specifically over new allegations surrounding how her 2003 election campaign was funded.
Lothians MSP Foulkes said: "We all know that politics is a rough old trade. Personal criticism is part of it, so is public scrutiny, and rightly so. But there is a clear line between that and a prolonged campaign of personal smears.
"There is no doubt in my mind that this line has now been crossed in a concerted attempt to smear Wendy Alexander's integrity and reputation."
He added that Alexander had faced up to an Electoral Commission inquiry into donations to her recent leadership campaign.
"She did so openly and without complaint," he said. "That has now been concluded. She is a politician of integrity and commitment who should now be allowed to get on with her job.
"Those who object to her politics or policies should, of course, take issue with her through political argument. But a campaign of personal abuse is no substitute for that."
Fresh controversy arose last week concerning an organisation called the Scottish Industry Forum (SIF), which allegedly gave money from two dinners held in 2002 to Alexander's constituency office towards her 2003 election campaign.
Some guests have claimed that they attended thinking it was an event to establish bridges between government and business, and were unaware that proceeds from the dinner would fund the local Labour Party.
When the row broke last week, Labour gave conflicting accounts of the nature of the SIF. Foulkes said that the forum was "never billed as politically neutral". A Labour spokesman said the forum was separate from the party.
However, last night Robertson, a former UK defence secretary, claimed the organisation was "explicitly and unashamedly" set up by the party and "did not pretend to be anything else".
He added: "The Scottish Industry Forum was similar to the Conservative Party's Focus on Scotland dinners, which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for Tory coffers, and also like the SNP's Business for Scotland organisation.
"The forum organised seminars, briefings and events designed to involve and inform the Scottish business community about what Labour was doing in their interest."
The former Hamilton South MP said he was one of several senior Labour party figures - including the now-chancellor Alistair Darling, John Reid, former Scottish Labour leader Jack McConnell, Tom McCabe and Douglas Alexander - who attended forum events, often held in Labour premises.
"Many representatives of the business community came, in addition to overt supporters of other parties, to hear the views of opposition spokesmen and subsequently government ministers," Robertson added. "We never hid or disguised the connection with Scottish Labour. Any suggestion to the contrary is just plain wrong."
McConnell backs commission
FORMER First Minister Jack McConnell has backed a new commission to look at giving Holyrood more powers. He said the time was right, 10 years on from the act which created the parliament, to look at the relationship with the UK. But he warned politicians not to use the Scottish Constitutional Commission simply to discuss what extra powers. In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland, he said: "I think it is absolutely essential that politicians don't get carried away with themselves and spend all their time discussing their powers rather than what they do with those powers. "There is also the need to have a real debate about how the powers are being used at the moment. "I think there are choices being made which will be damaging to Scotland." McConnell's comments follow remarks last week by Scotland Office Minister David Cairns who claimed there was no case for giving the Scottish parliament further tax-raising powers, saying talk of substantial new powers for Holyrood was an inward looking "McChattering classes" issue. However, Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander has claimed Prime Minister Gordon Brown supports the commission. And Labour, Tory and LibDems have given their backing. The Scottish government has not signed up instead launching a "national conversation" to look at the issue of independence.
