Labour by-election candidate says Scottish party has 'differences of opinion' with Keir Starmer
Michael Shanks said there are disagreements around gender reform and the two-child benefit cap
The Scottish Labour candidate in a crucial by-election has said there are “differences of opinion” between the party in Scotland and its UK leader, Sir Keir Starmer.
Michael Shanks, who is standing in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said there are disagreements around gender reform and the two-child benefit cap. He said he would vote to abolish the latter, but Sir Keir has said it will not be scrapped if his party wins power.
However, Mr Shanks said this demonstrated the “maturity of devolution”. The SNP has accused Labour of being “mired in contradiction”.
The by-election was triggered after 11,896 voters in the constituency signed a recall petition to oust the former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier, who was suspended from the House of Commons for breaking Covid rules. She travelled by train at the height of pandemic in September 2020, having tested positive for the virus.
It will be fiercely contested by both the SNP and Labour. Mr Shanks urged the former to ensure the by-election is held as soon as possible, on October 5. Parliamentary rules dictate that the party which most recently held a seat must move a writ that would vacate it, should an MP be felled by a recall petition.
Speaking as he launched the SNP's campaign, First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “We’ll do everything in our gift to get this by-election as early as possible.”
He said Mr Shanks is “right to be deeply uncomfortable at Keir Starmer’s position on the two-child limit and on backing cruel Tory policies, because that will ultimately be what this by-election comes down to”. He added: “The voters of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have a really stark choice. They can either vote for an excellent SNP MP who will stand up for them and stand up for Scotland, or they can have a Labour MP who will do Keir Starmer’s bidding and back cruel Tory policies which have seen tens of thousands of children – many of them in this very constituency – plunged into poverty.”
He said Mr Shanks “will do whatever, I’m certain, Keir Starmer tells him to do”.
Mr Yousaf said the SNP welcomes the by-election. Asked if he had any sympathy for Ms Ferrier, who had the party whip removed when her Covid rule-breaking came to light, he said she was responsible for her own actions, adding: “I think we can all agree they were incredibly reckless.”
Katy Loudon, the SNP candidate and a local South Lanarkshire councillor, said she had not spoken to Ms Ferrier since 2020.
Mr Shanks was repeatedly asked about the disagreements between Scottish Labour and the UK party as he launched his own campaign in Rutherglen, which took place a short walk away from the SNP’s event.
Sir Keir recently said a UK Labour Government would retain the two-child limit on claiming some benefits.
Michael Shanks said there are disagreements around gender reform and the two-child benefit cap
The Scottish Labour candidate in a crucial by-election has said there are “differences of opinion” between the party in Scotland and its UK leader, Sir Keir Starmer.
Michael Shanks, who is standing in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said there are disagreements around gender reform and the two-child benefit cap. He said he would vote to abolish the latter, but Sir Keir has said it will not be scrapped if his party wins power.
However, Mr Shanks said this demonstrated the “maturity of devolution”. The SNP has accused Labour of being “mired in contradiction”.
The by-election was triggered after 11,896 voters in the constituency signed a recall petition to oust the former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier, who was suspended from the House of Commons for breaking Covid rules. She travelled by train at the height of pandemic in September 2020, having tested positive for the virus.
It will be fiercely contested by both the SNP and Labour. Mr Shanks urged the former to ensure the by-election is held as soon as possible, on October 5. Parliamentary rules dictate that the party which most recently held a seat must move a writ that would vacate it, should an MP be felled by a recall petition.
Speaking as he launched the SNP's campaign, First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “We’ll do everything in our gift to get this by-election as early as possible.”
He said Mr Shanks is “right to be deeply uncomfortable at Keir Starmer’s position on the two-child limit and on backing cruel Tory policies, because that will ultimately be what this by-election comes down to”. He added: “The voters of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have a really stark choice. They can either vote for an excellent SNP MP who will stand up for them and stand up for Scotland, or they can have a Labour MP who will do Keir Starmer’s bidding and back cruel Tory policies which have seen tens of thousands of children – many of them in this very constituency – plunged into poverty.”
He said Mr Shanks “will do whatever, I’m certain, Keir Starmer tells him to do”.
Mr Yousaf said the SNP welcomes the by-election. Asked if he had any sympathy for Ms Ferrier, who had the party whip removed when her Covid rule-breaking came to light, he said she was responsible for her own actions, adding: “I think we can all agree they were incredibly reckless.”
Katy Loudon, the SNP candidate and a local South Lanarkshire councillor, said she had not spoken to Ms Ferrier since 2020.
Mr Shanks was repeatedly asked about the disagreements between Scottish Labour and the UK party as he launched his own campaign in Rutherglen, which took place a short walk away from the SNP’s event.
Sir Keir recently said a UK Labour Government would retain the two-child limit on claiming some benefits.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:25 Well first and foremost this is about having a representative that stands up for this community, that can speak on the issues that people are raising with me
00:32 on the doorsteps, on the cost of living, but also on local issues to do with investment in our communities and cuts that are being felt across this community from the SNP government.
00:40 So it's incredibly important people have an MP that's fighting their corner.
00:44 Well people here have been waiting almost three years now for the chance for a fresh start.
00:48 We've been unrepresented in Parliament for three years.
00:50 The recall petition has now finished. People have had their say, they want a fresh start here.
00:55 There can be no delay. It's bizarre that we have to follow this protocol of who can call an election.
01:00 It should just be automatic, but the 5th of October is the date that it must now be.
01:04 That's the earliest it can be. There's no logical reason why the SNP can't make it the 5th of October.
01:08 We've had the formal launch of the by-election period after the successful recall petition.
01:13 What will be Scottish Labour's main message to voters going into that election?
01:17 Well this is an exciting opportunity for the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
01:22 It's an opportunity for a fresh start because frankly they have had enough of two incompetent governments that have let them down badly.
01:30 What Labour want to do is offer hope for the future, a fresh start in this area, but focusing on growing the economy,
01:37 tackling the cost of living crisis, ending child poverty and actually just investing in services locally so people have a better community in which to live.
01:48 How important is it for Labour to win this election? It certainly seems quite a crucial moment for the party to prove that it's got that growing momentum across Scotland.
01:56 Well I think all the election polls show that there is growing momentum for the Labour Party in Scotland.
02:02 And I can tell you having been on the doorsteps in Rutherglen, there are lots of people who previously voted SNP who are now coming over to Labour
02:10 because they've had enough of the Scottish Government, the SNP Government, and they've had enough of living with the Tories.
02:17 By voting Labour, it's not just a protest against the Tories, they get to boot them out of number 10 and that's a prize well worth having.
02:25 I follow Scottish Labour policy because I'd be a Scottish Labour MP. The differences in the policy areas that you've mentioned are far smaller than they've been made out to be.
02:35 Actually we're united on reforming the policies around gender recognition, we're united on building a fairer economy for all.
02:42 There's far more that unites the Labour Party and that's what we'll be fighting for across the whole of the United Kingdom.
02:47 It's incredibly important we win this by-election, not for the Labour Party but for the people who live in this constituency who have been let down.
02:53 I've spoken to hundreds of people across the constituency, we've spoken to nearly 20,000 people already.
02:59 They need an MP fighting their corner, that's what the priority is in this by-election.
03:03 .