Jeremy Corbyn has been urged to “directly intervene” in a Scottish Labour racism probe after it emerged key witnesses have still not been contacted.
It’s three months since the Daily Record revealed that Labour councillor Jim Dempster had made an Islamophobic remark about Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.
The Dumfries and Galloway councillor was suspended from the party in March after admitting telling two Transport Scotland officials that if the SNP politician visited “no one would have seen him under the burka”.
Dempster apologised but Yousaf said he should be expelled from the party.
The Record then revealed how Dempster is alleged to have chased a young Muslim girl around with air freshener and told her she “smelled of curry” when she was growing up in Sanquhar in the 80s and 90s.
He is also said to have insulted the girl’s brother.
And a senior police officer said that during a conversation in the mid-2000s about a local shop selling alcohol to underage kids, Dempster said: “Well they are Pakis, what do you expect?”
He denies the subsequent allegations.
Incredibly, no witnesses have been contacted for the probe launched by party leader Richard Leonard.
Sources claim the investigation is still at a “preliminary stage”.
The complaint is expected to be considered by Labour’s ruling body next month.
Of his letter to Corbyn, Yousaf said: “The utter lack of any investigation into serious allegations of Islamophobia and racism within Scottish Labour raises very serious
questions of Richard Leonard’s leadership.”
He added that he’d asked Corbyn “to directly intervene and ensure that the investigation now begins and concludes swiftly.
"We desperately need deeds not words from Labour.”
A Labour spokesman said: “Investigations into alleged misconduct are continuing and as a result it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
The delays have angered many in the party.
One source said: “We need to take credible action to show racism will not be tolerated.”
The party have been dogged by race rows.
MSP Anas Sarwar claimed in January that Labour’s council group leader in South Lanarkshire said “Scotland wouldn’t vote for a brown, Muslim Paki”.
Davie McLachlan denied making the remarks but was also suspended by the party.
In February, MP Hugh Gaffney apologised for making “deeply offensive and unacceptable” remarks about Chinese and LGBT people and was sent for diversity training.
