Labour deputy Harriet Harman

A formal complaint of racism was made against Labour General Secretary Ray Collins after he asked for a translation of comments made by a man from Lanarkshire. Trades union official Mary Fee was so outraged by the comments made at last week’s Scottish Labour conference that she protested to party officials. Mrs Fee contacted Mr Collins directly and he has since apologised, insisting that he did not intend to cause offence and was wrong to make the comments. The row started when Labour’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman, took a question-and-answer session at the gathering at Dundee. After some exchanges with delegates, it became clear she was struggling to understand and asked her audience if they were also having problems with the acoustics.

When no one agreed, she took a question from a Labour activist from Motherwell. Ms Harman appeared confused by his strong Scots accent and complained she could not hear what he had said, at which point Mr Collins intervened and said to Scottish Labour Party General Secretary Colin Smyth: “Can you translate that for me?” Seconds later, Mr Collins then turned to the audience and said: “I have asked Colin to join us, so he can translate.” Mrs Fee, a Glasgow-based shop steward with shop workers union USDAW, said: “I heard Mr Collins’s remarks clearly. I was upset by what he said and considered it to be racist. The man had a normal Scottish accent and most people could understand him perfectly well. Several delegates were said to have complained that Mr Collins’s conduct was anti-Scottish.”

Mrs Fee said she was so incensed by Mr Collins that she emailed him and he immediately apologised, blaming poor acoustics. She said: “He said he was very sorry and he had not intended to cause offence. He said it was as a result of a problem with the sound in the hall.” Mrs Fee said she accepted the apology, though she suggested she was less than convinced by his explanation. Labour sources insisted that Mr Collins, a life-long trade unionist, had simply been unable to hear the question because microphones had been turned down.