JOHN Swinney has said he was “not surprised” to see footage of a Labour candidate claiming the party helped the Tories campaign in 2019.
The National revealed exclusive footage showing Tauqeer Malik, the candidate in Aberdeen South, telling a voter his party “did not bother at all” in the constituency in 2019 in the hopes the Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, would keep the seat.
Anas Sarwar has already said he won’t sack Malik although, along with Jackie Baillie, conceding that it was a “stupid thing to say”.
Speaking while out campaigning in Edinburgh, the First Minister said: “Well I watched that footage with not an awful lot of surprise because I think the collaboration between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party is pretty clear in Scotland going back to the referendum in 2014.
“And the Labour candidate who spoke about them throwing away the contest in 2019 in Aberdeen South, didn’t surprise me.
“But think about what was being done there. The Labour Party was essentially opening the door for a candidate who supported Boris Johnson to be elected to the House of Commons.
“I think that says it all about where the Labour Party are in their politics.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer has also come under pressure to sack Malik for the comments while the SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown wrote to Sarwar calling on him to show “authority and integrity” over the matter.
Asked about the decision not to sack or suspend Malik, Swinney said: “They’re (Labour) absolutely comfortable working in cahoots with the Tories. That’s what I’ve been warning about in this election campaign.
“The Labour Party and I was pointing this out at First Minister’s Questions today with as much care and information as I can.
“By signing up to the fiscal rules that the Conservatives have left behind, Labour have locked themselves into spending cuts. It’s unavoidable and people in Scotland need to understand that if a Labour government is elected, we will have a continuation of austerity and it will be profoundly damaging.”
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Scottish Labour candidate tells voter his party 'didn't bother at all' in 2019 in order to let the Tories win the Aberdeen South seat. 'I was hoping that [the Tory candidate] could win it,' he told a voter in this shocking video. pic.twitter.com/nyBIOn7VE0
— The National (@ScotNational) June 26, 2024
In the video Malik was heard saying he backed Douglas Lumsden, the Conservative candidate, in 2019.
“When Douglas was candidate, Douglas Lumsden, in 2019, we did not bother, Labour did not bother at all, we were hoping that Douglas would make it.
“That’s why Labour had only 3000 [votes], because we did not do anything.”
Lumsden ultimately lost the seat to the now-SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn at the 2019 General Election.
