Leaked WhatsApp messages have revealed bitter infighting among Labour MPs on the performance of Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander. One of Alexander’s allies, MP Alison Taylor, even urged a critic of the Cabinet Minister to “withdraw” their “terrible” remarks about him.
The explosive comments come after vicious briefings in the media against Alexander by unnamed Scottish Labour MPs this week. The Scottish Secretary, who also co-chaired Labour’s disastrous Holyrood election campaign, was accused of being the “most absent man in Cabinet”. He was said to have “disappeared completely” since Labour’s election drubbing and only tweeted about “dead people”. This was a reference to Alexander tweeting tributes to politician Meta Ramsay and ex rugby star Scott Hastings, who died recently. He also tweeted about D-Day.
The briefing against Alexander sparked a furious response in the WhatsApp group for Scottish Labour MPs. In a message seen by the Record, Alexander’s parliamentary private secretary Alison Taylor wrote that she was “shocked” a colleague would say such things about the Scottish Secretary: “I know I have come into politics from the world of property/ business where people do say what they think to people’s faces and not to the press and I know I have to adjust to a different environment - however.”
The MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North continued: “I am especially disappointed as a close friend of mine has been named. I was at Meta Ramsey’s [sic] bedside the last few months and it was very painful and she was an amazing Labour woman we should all honour. I know she would be as upset as me about this. She has known Douglas since he was born she would say affectionately. I just can't understand why colleagues in this group are attacking Douglas for having written a tribute to her. I very much like everyone in our group and really feel honoured to become an MP and sit beside all of you. I hope the person who said this will reflect on this approach and if possible withdraw such terrible remarks.”
A source said MP support for Taylor’s WhatsApp message had been “minimal”. Alexander’s other PPS, Coatbridge and Bellshill MP Frank McNally, also weighed in on the attacks: “Not to mention D-Day veterans, which is completely objectionable.” However, other senior party figures have stepped up their criticisms of Alexander.
One former Holyrood candidate expressed annoyance that he had not written to them after the May 7th defeat: “Douglas marched all the candidates up to the top of the hill, making people believe they were going into government. His disappearing act since the election has gone down badly. It wouldn’t have taken much effort to write to candidates who have done everything the party asked of them and show them some appreciation. The casualties of Scottish Labour’s disastrous campaign deserve better from its architects.”
A Scottish Labour MP also referenced a colleague’s notorious barb about Alexander to the Record last year: “If I had a pound for everyone who liked Douglas, I would have 50p.” The MP said: “The person who said that probably has 5p now.” They added that Alexander had helped run a “cloud cuckoo land” campaign based on a “fantasy” of winning 38 seats from the SNP: “He is losing the support of the dressing room.”
A Scottish Labour source hit out at the leaks: “Anonymous, hostile briefings like this only help our opponents, not least at a time when we have two by elections taking place. Party members deserve better than such cowardly attacks. As a team, Anas, Jackie, and Douglas worked tirelessly together in the recent Scottish campaign and Douglas has been a constant and engaged presence in Scotland before, during and after that election. Last weekend he campaigned in both the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry by election and the Aberdeen South by election.”
SNP MSP Alex Kerr said: “Anas Sarwar and Douglas Alexander proudly led the Scottish Labour Party to an embarrassing and historic defeat. The entire Labour Party and Westminster government is now engaged a brutal civil war after running one of the poorest campaigns in Scottish political history. Douglas Alexander and Anas Sarwar offered the people of Scotland nothing as they refused to engage with half of the electorate who want our country to take her rightful place as an independent country. They learned nothing from their previous defeats and were punished accordingly by the public. While the Labour Party is distracted, the SNP is getting on with delivering on the priorities of the people of Scotland under John Swinney’s strong and reliable leadership.”
