Scottish Labour contender in 'by-election seat' quit party over Brexit stance

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A contender to be Labour’s candidate in a likely by-election quit the party four years ago over Brexit.Michael Shanks publicly announced he did not vote Labour due to their “bankrupt” approach to the EU and the anti-semitism scandal.It comes amid claims of a "stitch up" after councillors Mo Razzaq, John Carson and trade unionist Leah Stalker were excluded from trying to be the candidate in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.Voters in the Westminster seat could face a by-election if sitting MP Margaret Ferrier is ‘recalled’ by voters.Ferrier, elected on an SNP ticket, received a criminal conviction after travelling from London to Glasgow by train while infected with Covid.Labour are strongly tipped to win the seat and are in the final stages of selecting a candidate.Shanks, a teacher, is one of the favourites and has been shortlisted in the internal Labour selection.But in a 2019 blog post, called ‘Time to call it a day’, he revealed he had walked away from Labour when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.He wrote on the day of the European election: “The truth is for more than 15 years the Labour party has been a home for me.

It’s where I’ve made some of my best friends, where I’ve had the privilege to stand for election three times and where I’ve shared with countless others our values of compassion, solidarity, social justice and opportunity for all.”“It has become impossible to reconcile the state of the party is currently in with those core values.

A party that has such a bankrupt approach to our membership of the EU and is complacent about the impact it will have on the poorest people across the UK does not share those values.“A party that has been woefully inadequate in tackling antisemitism time and time and time