Labour to attack SNP choice for by-election over cuts

Published on Friday 22 August 2008 22:17

PETER Grant, the leader of Fife Council, was expected to be confirmed as the SNP candidate for the Glenrothes by-election last night.

Labour, which will be defending the Westminster seat left vacant by the death of former council leader John MacDougall, is set to unleash a personal attack on Mr Grant and his political record.

Following the SNP's victory in Glasgow East last month, the party is hot favourite to win the seat, with the bookies offering odds of just 1/4 on an SNP victory, even though Labour had a majority of 10,500 at the last election.

But Labour plans to fight hard not to lose another seat. If the SNP does clinch it, then Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, will be left isolated as Labour's only MP in Fife.

Labour proposes to focus on Mr Grant's record as council leader in Fife, a post he took on after the 2007 Scottish council elections.

The party hopes to portray him as the man responsible for closing schools in the region and slashing services over the past year.

A Labour source said: "There is no doubt that, as leader of the council, Mr Grant has the blood of service cuts on his hands.

"But we all know that he is obeying his master's voice and we need to show the link between his actions as council leader and the decisions of Alex Salmond and the Scottish Government."

The SNP has always argued that cuts were the result of actions by the Labour government in Westminster. It says that for the year 2008-9, Scotland was awarded the lowest block grant settlement since devolution.