 | 'One pensioner said at the time that she only realised she had joined the party after receiving party literature on a regular basis. She wrote to Labour complaining that she did not wish to be in the party and was not even a Labour voter.' Jason Allardyce And Euan McColm in the Scotsman 19 th September 1997 |  |
The Scotsman has learned that every member of West Renfrewshire Constituency Party will be approached and asked if they are actually aware that they are members.
Officials will pose the question as part of their high-powered investigation into the running of the local party, following the suicide of the MP Gordon McMaster.
Meanwhile The Scotsman can reveal that an offshoot of Drumchapel Opportunities, the regeneration agency at the centre of allegations over misuse of hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money is to dissolve a publicly-funded offshoot which ran up substantial debts.
Last night senior Labour party figures confirmed that the membership audit must go ahead as they investigate allegations that suspended MP Tommy Graham "bought up" memberships for people as he fought to secure his reselection in the run up to the general election.
Most of the 289 members of the Renfrewshire West Constituency Labour Party will be contacted over the coming weeks by party investigators.
Claims that the MP personally bankrolled new party members and that some did not even know they had been recruited first surfaced in the summer of 1995.
Newspaper reports alleged that in 1993, elderly women were given free subscriptions to join the party to ensure he retained his parliamentary seat. It was alleged that in less than two months that year membership of the Linwood branch, then in the MP's constituency, almost quadrupled, from just 57 members to 199, following a recruitment drive in pubs and a pensioners' club.
It happened at a time when it seemed likely that proposed boundary changes would have made Graham's West Renfrewshire and Inverclyde seat a highly marginal one. Linwood was to become part of the adjacent Paisley North constituency and Graham was said to be considering standing against the sitting member, Irene Adams.
One pensioner said at the time that she only realised she had joined the party after receiving party literature on a regular basis. She wrote to Labour complaining that she did not wish to be in the party and was not even a Labour voter.
Mr Graham, however, was never disciplined over the claims after an earlier party investigation into these allegations.
Activists unhappy at the previous inquiry say now they are very heartened by what they regard as a genuine determination by the party hierarchy to get to the bottom of the matter this time.
The MP firmly denies the claims and has told The Scotsman that he expects to be completely exonerated.
Details of the plan have been outlined by Labour's general secretary, Tom Sawyer, as the anti-sleaze inquiry gets under way.
A senior party source in Renfrewshire said: "We were told, in no uncertain terms, that people who know of anything untoward must divulge that fully or they will find themselves in trouble every bit as serious as those who have behaved improperly.
"It was made clear to us that the party is bent on pursuing this matter to the bitter end. The investigators are concerned about how so many bad practices and examples of improper behaviour have been allowed to go on for such a long time."
Speaking about plans for a membership audit, the source said: "Certainly they will be looking at selection procedures, and every member will be asked if they are aware they are actually in the party."
Labour hopes to publish its initial findings in an interim report before the end of October which could pave the way for a November by-election in Mr McMaster's Paisley South constituency.
The source went on: "It is significant that everything thrown up by the inquiry will be going to Tony Blair."
In a further development, The Scotsman understands that councillor Harry Revie, also suspended from the Labour party, has sent a doctor's medical certificate to his colleagues in Renfrewshire Council HQ.
Councillor Revie, who is Tommy Graham's election agent and was a director of the controversial Paisley firm FCB, has not been seen at the municipal buildings in Paisley for the past two weeks.
A colleague said: "The word from the chief executive's office is that Harry has put in a sickline which would explain why we haven't seen him."
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