Court stops Labour candidate selection contest amid race row

A contest to choose a Labour candidate for the next general election has been stopped by a judge amid claims by some Asian party members that they had been unfairly blocked from taking part.



The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that a decision by Scottish Labour to change a cut-off date for eligibility to vote in the contest was "irrational" and also "wrong in fact and wrong in law".

Asim Khan, who is standing to be Labour's candidate in Glasgow South West, raised the legal action after claiming dozens of his supporters had been blocked as a result of the move.

He is standing in the contest against Matt Kerr, the son of Andy Kerr, who is the chair of Labour's ruling national executive committee.

PoliticsHome revealed how five Asian party members had written to Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard claiming they had been barred from taking part in the contest because of their "names, ethnic and cultural origin".

They said: "We believe that had we been called Richard, Jeremy, John or any Anglicised name we would not have been treated in this way."

Last year's Scottish Labour leadership election contest between Mr Leonard and Anas Sarwar saw thousands of new members join the party.

But a "freeze date" imposed by Labour's Scottish executive means dozens of Asian members - who signed up to back Mr Sarwar - have been blocked from the Glasgow South West candidate selection race.

Speaking after yesterday's court case, Asim Khan told the BBC: "I sincerely hope now we can move on to elect the Labour MP that members want, and there will be no further malicious attempts to undermine the process."

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: "Labour accepts the ruling and will not be pursuing this case further."

A Scottish Labour source said: "No applicant who joins the Labour party is blocked on the grounds of race, religion, sexuality or gender, nor would they ever be. The Labour party’s rule book provides integrity and consistency for all members and potential members."