Darling ‘too old’ as leader

FORMER chancellor Alistair Darling has declared he is too old to run the Labour Party, as another senior Scottish figure said the party north of the Border needed a “new political generation” to revive its fortunes.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said Scottish Labour needed figures such as the late John Smith, Robin Cook and Donald Dewar if it was to see off the challenge from the SNP.

In an interview with The Scotsman, Mr Darling, who will be 63 at the next Holyrood election in 2016, said he would resist calls for him to run for the job.

However, he said he wanted to play as “prominent role as possible” in the No campaign on the independence referendum. He said: “I’ve never wanted to lead the Labour Party anywhere and if I was asked that question ten years ago I would have given the same answer.”

Meanwhile, Mr Alexander suggested that the SNP government should be stripped of its responsibility for the timing of an independence referendum.