Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been condemned by a former key ally in Aberdeen who accused him of treating the city “as if it didn’t exist”.
Willie Young, the controversial former city council finance chief, claimed that north-east Labour representatives have never been consulted on the party’s oil and gas policy.
“They have ignored Aberdeen as if it didn’t exist,” Mr Young told us in an interview.
And he accused Mr Sarwar of being “good at pretending that he’s interested” but “not so good on the delivery”.
But a Labour spokesman hit back, saying the party in Aberdeen had a “new direction”.
He branded Mr Young an “ex-councillor who lost his bid to be reselected”.
Controversial figure
The outspoken former Bridge of Don representative previously stood for Holyrood and served on Labour’s national executive committee alongside Mr Sarwar.
He has been one of the most influential and divisive figures in Aberdeen politics for the last 15 years.
He remained a key player at the Town House despite losing his seat in 2017 after a storm over the use of public funds to pay for repairs to a wall on his family’s land.
Mr Young’s criticism of Mr Sarwar is the latest rift between Scottish Labour bosses and the party’s Aberdeen group.
Divisions emerged when Labour’s nine city councillors were suspended under Kezia Dugdale’s leadership in 2017 for entering a coalition with the Tories.
Sidelined on energy policy
Mr Young said he met Mr Sarwar in November last year, alongside city council co-leader Jenny Laing.
He claimed they were promised a meeting would be set-up for talks between them and Labour’s former UK energy minister Brian Wilson, and its Holyrood energy spokesman Colin Smyth, to discuss the party’s oil and gas policy.
Nationally, Labour figures have been calling for a windfall tax on energy giants, while opposing the controversial Cambo development in the North Sea.
Mr Young said they never heard any more about the energy policy meeting.
“That’s why I say that Anas is a good listener but he is deaf when it comes to actually carrying things out,” he added.
“He’s good at listening. He’s good at pretending that he’s interested. But he’s not so good on the delivery.
“And that’s a shame because, to be fair to him, he’s doing quite well when it comes to national politics. He seems to be doing a lot better than we were under Richard Leonard.”
Better Together?
Mr Young backed Mr Sarwar for the Scottish Labour leadership and campaigned with him for Better Together in the run-up to the 2014 independence referendum
“I’ve known Anas for an awful long time. I like Anas. He’s a nice guy. I supported him,” he said.
“However, what I would also say about Anas is that I’m disappointed with where we are in Aberdeen.
“Aberdeen needs to be looked at by the Labour Party as the energy capital of Europe, because that’s what we still are.
“But so far Labour in Scotland haven’t done anything. They’ve ignored the question. They have ignored Aberdeen as if it didn’t exist.”
‘Racist’ cartoon
Mr Young was previously suspended by Labour for tweeting a “clearly racist” cartoon linking China and coronavirus in October 2020.
He was readmitted to the party but failed in a bid to become Labour candidate for Torry and Ferryhill earlier this year.
A lawyer and former football referee, Mr Young was close to former Labour donor Alan Massie, an Aberdeen-based businessman who later switched his support to the Tories.
Mr Massie branded Labour “weak” in an interview with us earlier this week.
Mr Young, who remains a Labour member, said: “Labour is becoming very Glasgow-centric. It’s not a party of Scotland, it’s very much a party of the Central Belt.
“I agree, that’s where the population is, but that’s not helpful for anybody when you think of Anne Begg, when you think of Frank Doran, when you think of some of the big players we’ve had, Bob Hughes.
“It’s so sad where the Labour Party in Aberdeen is at the moment.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman said Mr Young was a private citizen who was “clearly not keeping up with the news”.
He said: “Aberdeen Labour gained seats in May’s local elections with a new direction.
“Mr Sarwar regularly meets with his Aberdeen Labour colleagues and the oil and gas sector – speaking at Offshore Energy UK’s conference last month.
“These are the comments of an ex-councillor who lost his bid to be reselected and should be read in that context.
“Labour are focussed on building a better future for the people of Aberdeen.”
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