 | 'As an ex-Paisley Buddie myself I'll be asking voters there if they can trust Jack McConnell or the Scottish Labour executive who have made no effort to take action on a convicted fraudster who cheated this council and our constituents. Labour's position on sleaze has been blown openover the Sheila Howat affair.' Independent Dumfries & Galloway Councillor, Tommy Sloan, 28 th October 1997. |  |
Coming as Labour sources in London confirmed that there will be no formal action before the New Year against either Renfrewshire West MP Tommy Graham or Glasgow city councillors accused of misconduct, it ensures that sleaze will dominate the final week of campaigning.
While Labour candidate Douglas Alexander was pledging to clean up Renfrewshire politics, the party's group leader in Dumfries and Galloway, Councillor Tommy Sloan, was making clear that no further action beyond a six-month suspension was planned against Sheila Howat, who admitted a housing fraud in court last week and will appear for sentence next Wednesday on the eve of the by-election.
Councillor Sloan said: "There is no meeting planned with national officials. Keir Hardie House is monitoring the situation and unless they come to us with concerns, further discipline is not under consideration at this time."
The political turmoil in Renfrewshire following the suicide of Gordon McMaster and the suspension of Tommy Graham is on the agenda of Labour's national executive in London today, as is the latest state of play on "votes for trips" sleaze allegations against Glasgow councillors, who will have disciplinary charges drawn up against them.
A report prepared by the task force investigating the scandal has confirmed initial findings of misconduct. Party officials will spend the next few weeks drawing up formal charges, which will in turn be submitted to the National Constitutional Committee, Labour's formal disciplinary body.
The NEC is also expected to accept the recommendation of a preliminary investigation into membership irregularities in Paisley and the activities of Mr Graham. The report, which has identified prima facie evidence of wrongdoing, will urge the NEC to refer the matter to the NCC.
The prospect of legal action has forced officials to stick scrupulously to procedures. As a result final action, if any, against Glasgow councillors, Mr Graham, and the Renfrewshire party will not be finalised until early in the New Year.
A source said: "If we tried to go any faster we would be breaking our own rules. We are determined to do this by the book. There is a body of evidence there which must be considered. Things are hotting up for Mr Graham."
But while the party's candidate in Paisley South was putting "zero tolerance of corruption and abuse of power" at the heart of his five pledges to local voters, a devastating broadside against Labour's record was being delivered in Dumfries by assistant vice-convener and independent group leader Councillor John Dowson.
He said he would be writing to the Paisley Daily Express "urging by-election voters to take serious note of Labour's unwillingness to act on a very serious matter of sleaze involving an elected member in Dumfries and Galloway".
Councillor Dowson added: "As an ex-Paisley Buddie myself I'll be asking voters there if they can trust Jack McConnell or the Scottish Labour executive who have made no effort to take action on a convicted fraudster who cheated this council and our constituents. Labour's position on sleaze has been blown open over the Sheila Howat affair."
Mr Alexander vigorously denied the accusation of opponents that by refusing to attend daily press conferences he is "hiding" during the present campaign, and he said direct challenges to debate head-to-head with SNP challenger Ian Blackford were a sign of desperation on their part.
Mr Blackford said: "Labour are soft on sleaze and soft on the causes of sleaze. I cannot believe that Labour are merely suspending a councillor who admitted in court that she defrauded her own council. I have pledged the people of Paisley South that I will speak up against sleaze and clean up local politics and one of my first acts as MP would be to recommend to the Nolan Commission on Standards in Public Life that action can be taken to remove councillors who have legally abused public funds.
"Even in a council area that Labour don't control they cannot be trusted to clean up their act, so what hope is there for an area like Renfrewshire, where the sleaze goes back years."
Labour will again hold no formal press conference today, instead staging a photo-opportunity at a centre for the disabled with Mr Alexander and Health Minister Sam Galbraith. This has been scheduled for the time booked each day for the press conference of Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate Eileen McCartin.
Speaking in her support yesterday, party leader Paddy Ashdown bemoaned the new style of by-election campaigning of Labour and the Tories. "This is another example of the depressing tendency to hide the candidates, make sure they don't have to answer questions, and rely instead on the shadowy spin doctors behind the scenes," he said.
The Liberal Democrats' theme yesterday was the run-down of the NHS and Labour's insufficient commitment to putting in the money needed to save it. A survey of local GPs showed pessimism and disillusion which Labour had done nothing to reverse, they said. - Oct 29
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