Candidate accused of racism by Anas Sarwar to stand for Scottish Labour

A councillor accused by his party leader of racism will stand again under the Scottish Labour ticket for the local elections in May.

The Times reported Davie McLachlan will stand for Anas Sarwar’s party five years after it was alleged he told the leader that Scotland was not ready for a “brown, Muslim p***”.

The comment was allegedly said during the 2017 leadership contest, which Mr Sarwar lost, leading to the election of Richard Leonard.

Mr McLachlan was suspended for 15 months following a complaint by Mr Sarwar, but he was cleared by an internal investigation.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar holds a poster showing the new Scottish Labour logo during the Scottish Labour conference at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

The councillor had been Labour group leader in South Lanarkshire.

He will stand for the party again in May’s elections as a Labour and Co-operative Party candidate in Hamilton North and East despite the history.

Mr McLachlan was readmitted to the party in 2019 after a Labour national executive committee investigation found there was “no case to answer”.

The councillor claimed he “never have, and never would, harbour racist views”.

The now Scottish Labour leader criticised the ruling and the fact he was unable to give evidence.

He said: “The UK Labour NCC panel ruled that there was no case to answer without any verbal evidence being taken. I am left with the sad impression that Islamophobia is one of the last acceptable forms of prejudice.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Every Scottish Labour candidate is expected to abide by our values, especially with regards to opposing forms of prejudice or hatred.”

It comes after confirmation Scottish Labour will field the fewest number of candidates at the council elections in its current Single Transferable Vote format, with just 413 candidates standing across Scotland.

In March, an email sent to Labour members in Aberdeenshire effectively pleaded for individuals to come forward and stand as paper candidates to boost voting figures.

The email said: “We are primarily looking for people who will be willing for their name to go down onto the ballot and, in doing so, will allow hundreds of people to vote Labour.

"Doing anything additional as a candidate will not be a requirement. We are asking for a favour from you.”

In 2007 Labour stood 521 candidates, then 497 five years later, and 453 in 2017.

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