ANAS Sarwar has denied having any involvement in the sacking of an independence-supporting election candidate last year.
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, the Scottish Labour leader was questioned about the de-selection of Hollie Cameron – who was the original candidate in Glasgow Kelvin for the Scottish Parliament election – after she expressed support for independence and a second referendum.
But Sarwar refused to take any responsibility for what happened, saying it was a decision made by the Scottish executive committee.
Cameron was later elected as constituency chair of Labour's Glasgow Kelvin branch.
When asked if he was relaxed about having candidates who previously supported independence, Sarwar said: "There’s nothing wrong with a candidate who had supported independence previously but now does not support independence."
When it was put to the party leader that he sacked Cameron because of her Yes views, he hit back: "That is not true, I don’t select the candidates, and neither do I sack them. That was a decision made by the Scottish executive committee.
"I want us to have a diverse group of candidates and we have that, and I want people to vote Labour so we can move past this constitutional obsession that’s all about finding that one difference."
Hollie Cameron was the original candidate for Labour in Glasgow Kelvin last year
SNP MSP Rona Mackay told The National Sarwar was taking Scots for fools with his remarks.
She said: "Anas Sarwar must think people in Scotland are buttoned up the back if he thinks they will believe he did not have a hand in the suspension of Hollie Cameron, a former candidate in the party that he leads.
"It is a perfect demonstration of why Labour continues to slide into irrelevance in Scotland as they deny the democratic mandate the people of Scotland delivered for an independence referendum."
Sarwar also dodged questions about why he had 25 candidates standing who backed another referendum taking place, according to independent analysis.
He branded it as "desperate" and "nonsense" PR from the Tory party, but contradicted himself when asked if 25 was the wrong number and he responded "no".
Sarwar said: "All of our candidates are standing on a platform of a reformed UK, all of our candidates are true to Labour values and principles and all of them are standing in this local election to fight for the local community.
"I wouldn’t believe the nonsense being put out by the Tory press HQ which is just a desperate attempt to try and push people towards the Tories by saying Labour no longer support the UK.
"Labour unequivocally supports Scotland being part of the UK but we think the UK needs to change because it’s not working for people."
Green MSP Gillian Mackay added: "The people of Scotland have elected a majority pro-independence parliament, and will rightly determine their own future in a referendum. Scottish Labour’s stance on this issue is not only anti-democratic it is alienating to many people who would once have seen themselves as traditional Labour voters, and may help explain why the party is as far from power today as it has ever been in my lifetime.”
Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said in March Labour were "completely out-of-touch with ordinary working-class people" and called on them to support an independence referendum.
He said Labour could be "lost to another generation" unless they "grasp the nettle" on independence.
Sarwar was also quizzed on his opposition to forming coalitions on councils ahead of the local election on Thursday.
The proportional single-transferable vote system often leaves parties with no choice but to link up with other groups to form an administration, but he maintained he was against formal coalitions even in the wake of East Renfrewshire – which is run by an SNP/Labour coalition – being branded the best-performing council in Scotland by The Times.
"What I find interesting about this entire conversation is for eight years the SNP and the Tories have been saying the Labour Party is dead and now all of a sudden all they want to do is talk about coalitions with the Labour Party," added Sarwar.
"What we are saying is the SNP went into this election saying no coalition with the Tories challenging Labour to do the same, the Tories went into this election campaign saying no coalitions with the SNP challenging Labour to do the same. I’m saying I think both are bad for the country.
"I don’t want us to push to the extreme Yes or extreme No. But instead, let's build a coalition of support and let’s have decisions made on local authorities like they are in North Ayrshire and Glasgow where minority administrations are working well."
