Labour appoints key Union man

A FORMER Labour adviser is to take up a key role in the pro-Union campaign, sources confirmed last night.

Blair McDougall, who worked for James Purnell in the last Labour government, is to take up a senior job steering the campaign against independence.

Most recently, Mr McDougall has been working as national director of Movement for Change, a Labour-affiliated group aimed at boosting community organising.

He is a close colleague of shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy, and is viewed by Labour figures as someone who would be able to work across parties in Scotland. One colleague said: “He is an innovative campaigner. He’s respected in Labour and other parties.”