Tribute to departing Labour leader Iain Gray

Outgoing Labour leader Iain Gray served his “party and his country with distinction”, according to Labour’s Scottish Office spokeswoman Margaret Curran.

She highlighted Mr Gray’s time in government under the previous Scottish Executive. When Jack McConnell was first minister, Mr Gray was social justice minister and enterprise, transport and lifelong learning minister.

Ms Curran said: “The decisions he took as a minister, from finding ways to rule out student top-up fees to ending the forced detention of disabled people, changed Scotland for the better and will long be remembered both by our party and the people in Scotland.”

She said that when Labour was in opposition, Mr Gray had “successfully pressed the Scottish Government to make substantial changes to many of their policies, including apprenticeships, climate change and reform of the police” and “led the Scottish Labour Party, even in the most difficult of times, with poise and dignity”.