A Labour grandee has ripped up his membership card after 40 years and blasted: “Expressing socialist views now isolates you in the Party.”
The former MP Jim Sheridan is now standing down from Renfrewshire Council, enraged at what Scottish Labour has become.
In a stinging epistle, the party veteran has savaged the current ‘what’s in it for me’ brigade and says their politics is now all about personal ambition, not fighting for people.
Just three years ago he was the deputy leader of labour on Renfrewshire Council.
The 69-year-old also savaged the current Renfrewshire Labour crop for failing to take on the might of the SNP, which he says is responsible for the “utter destruction” of local services.
Sheridan, who lives in Erskine, is now considering his future without being a member of the party he always held dear.
For the past five months he had been suspended by the Renfrewshire party for calling out Councillor Alison Dowling’s failure to attend labour group meetings.
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What is clear, in a letter to associates and seen by the Paisley Daily Express, is that it is the latest suspension that finally broke his resolve.
Sheridan said: “This is a sad period for Labour in Renfrewshire.
“My politics have never left me. I believe as much in a fairer world today as when I ènrered the party as a young socialist .Unfortunately today’s politics is about personal ambition, using gimmicks and soundbites without any passion or commitment to seriously challenging poverty, young or old, national or international.
“Society in general is going backwards. Gains made by organised Labour and trade unions during the so called bad days of the 70s were demonised.
“Today’s youngsters are an example of exploitation by unscrupulous employment practices, and unfortunately my party “Labour” were complicit in portraying that decade as bad for the country.”
Sheridan was MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, formerly Renfrewshire West, from 2001 to 2015.
He first served on Renfrewshire Council in 1999, representing the old Erskine Central ward.
Five years ago he won the Labour ticket for Houston, Crosslee and Linwood,
It was his criticism of colleague Cllr Alison Dowling, who represents the same ward, that lead to his suspension last year.
He said: “My accusation this time is for undermining a “colleague”. It is no surprise that it is the same people who have encouraged this suspension once again.
“This time however I stand by my actions. I exposed the lack of attendance at Labour group meetings by my fellow ward member Councillor Allison Dowling, blatantly contradicting party rules.
“Rather than the Scottish Labour leadership agreeing that this is against the rules and asking her why, they suspended me for challenging her integrity despite this issue being raised, internally on many occasions and for in fact only speaking the truth.
“This is only one of many issues, that convinced me, that expressing any socialist views in today’s new Labour Party is frowned upon, and places you on the must go list. These tactics are familiar to those trade unionists, mainly in the construction industry, blacklisted by unscrupulous employers and denied of securing any further employment.
“This is why I liken their actions to McCarthyism: DEMONISE, SMEAR AND ISOLATE.”
Sheridan, a former printer with the Paisley Daily Express, says that with a few exceptions, the current Labour councillors are a let down.
He added: “If they spent a fraction of their time and effort on their constituents and used their resources to expose the utter destruction of local services by the SNP administration in Renfrewshire instead of plotting their own futures, then our constituents and Renfrewshire would be better served.
“With one or two exceptions, those selected to represent Labour at the forthcoming local elections don’t even have the ambition to replace the current SNP administration.
“They have instead plotted to ensure their buddies got what they believe to be safe seats. Meanwhile current, proven hard working Labour councillors have been deselected.”
The Renfrewshire Labour Group declined to comment when contacted by the Paisley Daily Express.
