Scottish Labour MP encourages colleagues to speak out and 'hold UK Government to account'

Andrew Quinn
·2-min read
Brian Leishman
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A Scottish Labour MP had encouraged his colleagues to "hold the UK Government to account."

Brian Leishman said his fellow backbench Labour MPs have to "make sure that the values and the ideals and the principles of the Labour Party are enacted in Government." The Alloa and Grangemouth MP said this would only happen if they "speak with one unified voice".

When asked if he would encourage his fellow Scottish Labour MPs to speak their mind more, Leishman said: "I would encourage all [Labour MPs]. I'm not going to differentiate between a Scottish Labour MP, a Welsh Labour one or an English one.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I would say that the entire Parliamentary Labour Party, our primary role is to look after our constituents' interests. But what we've also got to do is make sure that the values and the ideals and the principles of the Labour Party are enacted in Government.

"So I would make an appeal across the backbench MP cohort to speak with one unified voice and hold our government to account, so that we can deliver the values and principles."

READ MORE: John Swinney will speak to Donald Trump in bid to avoid trade tariffs

READ MORE: Alex Salmond’s widow says attacks on him are ‘unfair and distressing’

Leishman has been one of the most outspoken Labour MPs since being elected in July. He has been critical of the Government's approach to the Grangemouth oil refinery, which is set to shut next year with hundreds of jobs being lost.

ADVERTISEMENT

He also told the Record last week that he would vote against the Government if there is a vote about compensation for the Waspi women. When asked if he had faced any repercussions for speaking out, Leishman said: "No I've not. I've not been spoken to in quite some time."

Leishman said his party's government "has got to be not doing Tory policies and politics." He added: "It was all over our manifesto and it was all over our messaging that we were going to offer change. And that means that we actually have to provide that change that we spoke about. The Tories had plenty of opportunities to do it and they didn't do it.

"So the change has got to be not doing Tory policies and politics. We've got to do our own values and principles, and we've got to deliver them in government."

To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here

Latest stories

  • Prince Harry Appears to Shade Trump After His Meghan Markle Comments

    Prince Harry appeared to up the ante in his simmering feud with Donald Trump Sunday, making a fire-breathing speech to open the Invictus Games in Canada in which he said the competitors' “courage, values and humanity” deserved special respect at a time “when there is no shortage of crises, no absence of uncertainty, no lack of weak moral character in the world.” Traditionally, members of the royal family avoid all mentions of global affairs lest they risk being seen to interfere in politics, let

  • Intel Veteran Warns That Trump ‘Betrayal’ Would Be Catastrophic

    Senior figures in the intelligence community are warning Donald Trump against repeating what they view as one of the worst mistakes in U.S. foreign policy as he contemplates how to handle Ukraine’s war against Russia. “It will be the most tangible abandonment from the Trump foreign policy,” a former senior U.S. intelligence official told the Daily Beast. Trump, who said he could end the conflict in 24 hours, has yet to unveil the details of his plan to stop the war, which has now raged for almos

  • People Are Reacting To Rising Grocery Prices Under The Trump Administration In The Pettiest Way Possible

    "Everything under Trump must be blamed on him, just like what MAGA did with Biden."

  • 'No thanks', white South Africans turn down Trump's immigration offer

    U.S. President Donald Trump's offer to rehouse white South Africans as refugees fleeing persecution may not spur quite the rush he anticipates, as even right-wing white lobby groups want to "tackle the injustices" of Black majority rule on home soil. Trump on Friday signed an executive order to cut U.S. aid to South Africa, citing an expropriation act that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed last month aiming to redress land inequalities that stem from South Africa's history of white supremacy. The order provided for resettlement in the U.S. of "Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination" as refugees.

  • Donald Trump's Petty Reaction To Elon Musk Being Featured On Time Magazine's Cover Is Going Viral

    "He should maybe grab the reins if he doesn’t like Musk running the show."

  • Trump signs order prioritizing US ‘resettlement’ of white South Africans over ‘discrimination’

    Trump also shut down all South African aid, much of which is used to battle AIDS and HIV

  • Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites

    [Redacted] As President Donald Trump's anti-DEI agenda comes to bear on NASA, we're getting a revealing look at what his administration apparently considers to be too woke: women. In a directive sent out just days after Trump's inauguration, NASA personnel were commanded to excise all mentions of anything "specifically targeting" women on the space agency's public websites, 404 Media reports. "Per NASA HQ direction, we are required to scrub mentions of the following terms from our public sites b

  • Trump says US is making progress with Russia, declines to discuss talks with Putin

    ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/MOSCOW (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believed the United States was making progress in its talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but declined to provide details about any communications he had had with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump indicated that the two men had been in contact; that would mark the first officially acknowledged conversation between Putin and a U.S president since early 2022. “If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations,” Trump said.

  • A Former Prime Minister Has Condemned Donald's Trump's Decision To Axe US International Aid

    "An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage".

  • Musk Demands Judge Who Blocked DOGE at Treasury Be Impeached

    Elon Musk demanded the impeachment of the federal judge who blocked his federal spending task force from accessing the payment systems at the Treasury Department. “A corrupt judge protecting corruption,” Musk tweeted in the early hours of Sunday morning. “He needs to be impeached NOW!” U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled Saturday that special government employees and officials outside of the Treasury ought to be prohibited from accessing systems that contain sensitive information, effectiv

  • How a Trans Lawmaker Fired Back After Being Misgendered by a Trump Ally on House Floor

    A President Donald Trump loyalist misgendered Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who is a transgender woman, on the House floor. While presiding over the House on Thursday, Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) introduced McBride as “the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBride.” Rather than take the bait, however, she opted to eviscerate the Trump administration from a policy standpoint.

  • Trump Voters Angry at ‘Chaos’: ‘Not What We Signed Up For’

    The Wall Street Journal reports that the consumer confidence that accompanied President Donald Trump’s entry into office has eroded. The University of Michigan’s February report on consumer sentiment found that it fell by 5 percent, from 71.1 percent in January to 67.8 percent this month. Americans now expect inflation this year will be 4.3 percent, a 1 percent increase from last month. Morning Consult also found that consumer optimism is quickly fading. Consumers are worried about volatile deci

  • Hidden history: Why German Luftwaffe visited York before they bombed our city

    JOHN SHAW examines a forgotten event in the build-up to the Second World War

  • Kennedy Center Swipes Back at Unprecedented Trump Shakeup

    The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., released a statement in response to President Donald Trump‘s announcement Friday that he plans to fire board members and name himself chair of the iconic institution. The Center explained that while the president does have the authority to replace board members, these actions would be unprecedented—and that it had not received any direct communication about the proposed changes. “There is nothing in the Center’s statute that

  • Nigel Farage has been a threat to every recent UK prime minister. But this is something new

    Reform has surged in the polls, panicking both Labour and the Conservatives. It’s a trap, and the risks are high

  • Donald Trump says he will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into US

    Donald Trump says he will impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, including from Canada and Mexico. The president said he would make the announcement on Monday, signalling yet another major escalation in his trade policy overhaul. Speaking on Air Force One as he flew from Florida to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, he said the new levies would be on top of existing metals duties.

  • Criticism over letters asking bereaved relatives to return pension overpayments

    Sir Steve Webb said the letters from the Department for Work and Pensions do not make clear that repaying the money is voluntary.

  • ‘Stand up for what’s right’: Melville House co-founder on publishing Jack Smith and Tulsa reports

    Stunned by Donald Trump’s return, Dennis Johnson saw a chance to hit back by publishing official reports into shameful episodes in US history

  • Trump chops away at the government and the fallout is felt in the Virginia governor's race

    The Trump administration’s aggressive push to cut government jobs is reverberating in the early stages of this year's race for governor in Virginia. The fast-moving effort by Republican President Donald Trump to overhaul the federal workforce could have a sweeping impact in the state, home to some 145,000 federal employees and many more government contractors. Virginia, which along with New Jersey is picking a new governor in 2025, is already regarded as something of an early indicator of voter attitudes between presidential elections and seems certain to attract closer attention as the contest takes shape.

  • Democratic senator: We are on ‘the cusp’ of a constitutional crisis

    Democratic Senator Andy Kim (N.J.) argued that his party is ready to take a stand against President Trump’s recent actions and believes the United States is on “the cusp” of a constitutional crisis. Kim joined NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, where he was asked about Democrats’ plans as they react to Trump’s executive orders…