EAST LOTHIAN NEEDS A LOCAL CHAMPION, NOT LOCAL INFIGHTING

EAST LOTHIAN NEEDS A LOCAL CHAMPION, NOT LOCAL INFIGHTING

CHAOS CONTINUES FOR LABOUR IN EAST LOTHIAN

Following the news that Anne Moffat is to sue her local Labour party, the SNP's candidate Andrew Sharp has criticised the Labour party for putting party politics before constituents.

The news comes after Moffat finally lost her battle to retain the candidacy of Lothian's seat, following months of disarray in the seat. Moffat has been critical of both Gordon Brown and Iain Gray over the handling of the whole fiasco, in which she claims she had been bullied.

Commenting, the SNP's candidate in East Lothian, Andrew Sharp said:

"All this shameful Labour infighting does nothing for the people of East Lothian.

"They are in complete disarray, it just seems to get worse and raises more questions about what sort of operation they have been running for years in East Lothian.

"This crisis just further exposes the sad fact that they are more concerned with internal party politics than with cutting a better deal for the area. The trust in Labour around East Lothian has just disintegrated, from 'Cash for Peerages' to Anne Moffat's 'gold plated safety net', they have lost the respect of the electorate.

"This whole debacle has been immensely embarrassing for Iain Gray. He has been completely silent on the issue and appears just to be hiding away from it all, pretending it isn't happening. His constituents are not impressed."

The SNP's Campaign Coordinator Stewart Hosie added:

"This whole mess just seems to escalate week after week and the people of East Lothian are suffering as a consequence.

"With the General Election not far away, what the area needs is a local SNP champion to work hard for East Lothian at Westminster by standing against Labour squabbling and standing up for Scotland - someone who will champion local priorities, not their own priorities."

“Labour in Scotland is now drowning in a sea of sleaze reminiscent of the dying days of John Major’s administration in the 1990s.

“There are serious question marks over the way Labour has been running Glasgow City Council and using taxpayers’ money, Scottish Labour MP Jim Devine has been charged with false accounting over his expenses, Labour MP for East Lothian Anne Moffat has been controversially deselected but will pocket £30,000 a year in a pension despite only being an MP since 2001, and another former Labour minister, East Kilbride MP Adam Ingram, has been caught trying to gain financially by using his ministerial contacts. Labour have badly let down the people of Scotland.”