Mason calls for full disclosure and finance probe

Glasgow East MP John Mason has today called for full disclosure from the Labour Party amid the extremely serious issues raised by the latest revelations following the resignation of Steven Purcell as Glasgow City Council leader and as an elected councillor.

Following revelations in today’s newspapers that, not only was Mr Purcell warned by senior police officers that he was at risk of blackmail, but that he was prevented by Labour from becoming the party’s candidate in the Glasgow East by-election as a result of similar concerns, Mr Mason, who won the 2008 by-election contest for the SNP, has called on Labour to answer the outstanding questions and for public spending watchdogs to consider an inquiry into the city’s finances.

Mr Mason said: "The events of recent days are a personal tragedy for Steven Purcell, and I wish him well in his recovery. But that personal tragedy cannot and must not be allowed to deflect attention from the serious questions the Labour Party must now answer at local, Scottish and UK level.

"The revelations in the weekend press take matters well beyond Mr Purcell’s personal circumstances and difficulties. It is now being suggested that people in the Labour Party knew of the problems that Mr Purcell had in his personal life, and that concerns these issues could have surfaced stopped him from becoming the party’s candidate in the Glasgow East by-election in 2008 – decisions which would have gone right to the very top of the Labour Party.

"We need to know if this is true, and if so, who knew what and when. If it is true, then why did the Labour Party consider it unacceptable for him to be a Westminster by-election candidate, but acceptable for him to continue to run the country’s biggest local authority and its huge budgets.

"The Labour Party have to confirm or deny whether a decision to prevent him standing in Glasgow East was because he could have been open to blackmail.

"In relation to the visit of senior police officers to Mr Purcell, we need to know who are the people who are suggested as having applied pressure to him in terms of possible blackmail threats – and crucially, has this had any impact on public policy in the City of Glasgow? Given the massive budgets managed by the City Council, there is now a clear case for Audit Scotland carrying out a thorough investigation in light of the events of recent days.

"The people of Glasgow, and Scotland as a whole, deserve to know the full facts."