SNP urged to prevent Patrick Grady from campaigning in by-election

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, made the call in a letter

SNP MP Patrick Grady. Picture: PA

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie has written to the SNP asking them to prevent MP Patrick Grady from campaigning in a key by-election.

Patrick Grady was spotted on the campaign trail in Cambuslang earlier this week ahead of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, which was called after constituents signed a recall petition to sack the former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier.

Mr Grady apologised in Parliament after being found to have acted inappropriately towards a party staffer.

He had the SNP whip restored in December following a six-month suspension.

Dame Jackie wrote to Humza Yousaf and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn on the matter.

She said: “Mr Grady’s behaviour clearly fell well below the standard required of MPs and will have caused concern among many members of the public.

“While I understand that you have seen fit to allow such a man as Mr Grady to regain the SNP whip, I am sure that a great many Scots – including his accuser – may find his continual presence in frontline politics a source of distress.

“Today I am asking you both to consider preventing Mr Grady from representing the SNP by appearing at doorsteps in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, and to re-examine your failure to properly deal with his behaviour.”

“In an area currently experiencing a by-election due to the misconduct of another SNP MP, I am sure that you understand that the presence of a disgraced SNP politician on their doorstep sends a message to the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West that their needs are secondary to the SNP’s political self-interest.”

A spokesperson for the SNP said: “Patrick Grady made a serious error of judgment in 2016 and has since apologised.

“The independent parliamentary complaints process concluded that an apology, alongside a time-limited suspension, was the appropriate course of action.

“The SNP Group in Westminster applied the same sanction whilst the SNP suspended Mr Grady.”

It came as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar campaigned in Blantyre with Louise Haigh, the UK party’s shadow transport secretary.