Leishman has 'faith in Starmer' despite Labour suspension

Comments the outspoken MP made in the media and in the House of Commons are also being investigated.

In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Mr Leishman said he remained committed to the party - and to the prime minister. However, he was clear that Sir Keir must stand up for traditional Labour values.

Mr Leishman, who said he was "gutted" to lose the whip, said: "I will still be on the government's side. 

"I will be out campaigning to get Scottish Labour candidates elected for Holyrood next year. I'll be doing everything I possibly can to get Anas into Bute House.

Mr Leishman told The Herald he agreed with the party chief whip on Wednesday, who said he had been a "consistent" critic of Labour policies since being elected in June.

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The Alloa and Grangemouth MP said he did not think his suspension was justified, but said he still backed the Prime Minister.

He said he "absolutely can" work with Sir Keir, adding: "He's the leader of the party and he's the Prime Minister of this country.

"I want him to be a success. I want this to be a brilliant government. I can work with Keir Starmer, of course I can."

Mr Leishman has also been critical of how the UK Government handled the closure of Scotland's last oil refinery in Grangemouth.

He was suspended from the parliamentary group alongside three other UK colleagues.

"I don't think we should have been suspended. Internal democracy is so healthy, that's what we need to have - we need to have backbench MPs allowed to air their views."

He also compared Sir Keir Starmer's tolerance of differing opinions to that of Tony Blair, who led the party and country from 1997 to 2007.

The former prime minister did not remove the whip from any Labour MPs during his decade in office, while Sir Keir has suspended more than 10 in a year.

"I don't think we should have been suspended," Mr Leishman told The Herald.

"Internal party democracy is so healthy, that's what we need to have. We need to have backbench MPs allowed to air their views.

"When we look at it historically, under Tony Blair's government there was quite a lot of Labour MPs that broke the whip but never got suspended.

"Tony Blair and his government appreciated that internal party democracy is important. It's natural in the Labour Party that there's going to be people with different views. That's healthy and we should be able to air them."

Mr Leishman said his party leader must be "consistent" with traditional Labour values, including social justice and equality, while also representing the views of the working class.

Read more:

• Grangemouth Oil Refinery: Latest News, Interviews and Updates 
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The golf professional joined the Labour Party in 2016 under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Despite that, he ruled out joining Mr Corbyn's rebel party with Zarah Sultana, who left the party earlier this month.

"I love the [Labour] Party," Mr Leishman said.

"I've been a member for nine years and I want to get the whip back. This came out of the blue for me. I was gutted, to be honest."

In an interview with the Daily Record, he also ruled out joining the SNP.

Home Office minister Jess Phillips defended the Prime Minister's decision to remove the whip, adding there had to be "an element of discipline" within the party.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister said he would not be "deflected" from his mission to change the country by people who "repeatedly break the whip".

Journalists asked whether his decision to punish MPs made him look week. He replied: “Look, we are elected in to change this country for the better, and that means we’ve got to carry through that change, and we’ve got to carry through reforms, because we inherited a broken economy and broken public services.

“No government has inherited both of those ever before, and I’m determined that we will change this country for the better, for millions of working people, and I’m not going to be deflected from that.

“And therefore we had to deal with people who repeatedly break the whip, because everyone was elected as a Labour MP on the manifesto of change and everybody needs to deliver as a Labour government, this is about what we’re doing for the country, and that’s why I’m so determined to press forward with the reforms and the change that we need to bring about.”