Scottish Labour leader hopefuls warn against party divisions

Scottish Labour leadership contenders have warned about the dangers of internal feuds and briefings at their first party hustings in Glasgow.

Monica Lennon, Joe Fagan and Michael Marra made their cases to succeed Anas Sarwar as they pitched to rebuild Scottish Labour after May's crushing electoral defeat.

Those attending the hour-long event were met by a handful of pro-Palestine protesters, whose shouts were heard during the first part of the event.

All three candidates promised to change, rebuild and unite the party following its worst Holyrood election defeat since devolution.

Labour came joint second in the May poll, tied with Reform on 17 seats each.

Sarwar vowed to stay on in the immediate aftermath of the result, but just two months later announced his intention to stand down as both Scottish leader and MSP to join Andy Burnham's government.

Sarwar's resignation triggered the current leadership contest. Nominations close on 17 August, with party members and affiliated supporters voting between 28 August and 17 September.

Speaking in Glasgow on Wednesday evening, Lennon warned the party in Scotland was experiencing its "worst ever crisis".

"The choice is stark," she told members.

"Either continue with the old ways that lost, or choose a leader with the vision, courage and empathy to make it electable."

The Glasgow MSP - who returned to Holyrood after taking up Sarwar's vacated list seat - said she owed it to members to ensure Scottish Labour did not "sleepwalk into electoral oblivion", urging the party to get "out of this coma".

Lennon made a plea for unity but said the party had to change, saying the "public don't believe us when we say we are Scottish Labour".

She also said she would not be "bullied" or "intimidated by those putting party control above principles" and warned against "factionalism, dirty tricks and smears".

Marra also warned against "negative cowardly briefings", saying those who believed they could win votes were "dangerously deluded".

He said Scottish Labour had "refused to see" the election defeat coming and had failed to stop successive election losses, despite what he described as a "feckless, incompetent and corrupt SNP".

The North East MSP told the crowd that the party's problems were "much deeper than structures", adding that the party "must change our culture".

He said the next leader needed to "renew" the party and "rediscover its moral purpose".

In his closing remarks, Marra said the leadership contest was about choosing the candidate best able to "bring the party together" and "galvanise that movement".

He warned: "If we don't change, we'll be here again in five years. And how's that going to feel?"

Fagan said Scottish Labour had to "change more than the faces at the top".

The South Scotland MSP said the party had to be bold and get "squarely on the side of the working people of this country".

"I am standing to unite our party, to back our movement, to seize this moment and rebuild Scottish Labour as a party for working people of Scotland," he said.

Fagan said Scottish Labour needed to rediscover its "courage, boldness and imagination".

"Let Scottish Labour decay, and when Labour decays, Scotland decays," he said.

He called "caution and division" the party's "deadly enemies", saying "boldness, courage and unity are our only path".

He also said Labour needed to "learn to win again", arguing that it succeeded when it was "rooted in communities and serious about people's lives".

The new leader is due to be announced on 19 September.