Suspension of Brian Leishman MP
On the 16th of July, four Labour MPs had the whip withdrawn (ie they were suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party) for “repeated breaches of party discipline”, pending a future review. The four were Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchcliff, Neil Duncan-Jordan and Rachel Maskell. Their “repeated breaches of party discipline” included voting against the withdrawal of Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners and the withdrawal of Personal Independence Payments from disabled people.
Campaign for Socialism opposes these suspensions. Labour MPs voting against impoverishing those already struggling in our society is the least we should expect, and Keir Starmer should be listening to them rather than punishing them.
As Brian Leishman is the only Scottish Labour MP to be suspended, we have written to Anas Sarwar and Jackie Baillie to ask if there was any discussion with the Scottish Labour Party prior to the decision to withdraw the whip:
[Sent by email, 22 July 2025]
Dear Anas and Jackie,
We are writing to you as individual members of Scottish Labour and as committed democratic socialists to express our concern about the suspension of Brian Leishman MP from the Parliamentary Labour Party.
As the response from constituents in Alloa & Grangemouth, and from the wider public demonstrates, Brian has the support of working-class people, communities, and trade unions across Scotland.
The role of Scottish Labour MPs is to represent constituents’ views and concerns on matters of importance including the closure of Grangemouth refinery, proposed welfare cuts, and the continuation of austerity policies by the UK Government.
As a popular and vocal Scottish Labour MP, the unreasonable decision to publicly suspend Brian as well as other MPs standing up for the interest of their constituents and communities, is worrying. Given the serious implications regarding the suspension of Scottish Labour representatives, we would like to know if there was any attempt by the PLP to engage with Scottish Labour, the Scottish Labour leadership, or depute leadership ahead of this decision?
We look forward to hearing from you on this matter.
Yours in solidarity,
Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism
[Signed by Scottish Labour members]
Finn Beyts (Glasgow Cathcart CLP)
Pauline Bryan (Glasgow Kelvin CLP)
Yvonne Bruce (Edinburgh Northern and Leith CLP)
Aaron Caulfield (Dumbarton CLP)
Alex Copeland (Falkirk West CLP)
Mike Cowley (Edinburgh Northern and Leith CLP)
Laura Dixon (Edinburgh Central CLP)
Peter Duffy (Glasgow Kelvin CLP)
Chris Fleming (Glasgow Kelvin CLP)
Lauren Harper (SEC Youth Representative & Stirling CLP)
Vijay Jackson (Edinburgh Central CLP)
William Keišs (East Kilbride CLP)
Sonny McCourt (Edinburgh Northern and Leith CLP)
Laura McDonald (Aberdeen Donside CLP)
Andrew McFarlane (Paisley CLP)
Vince Mills (Glasgow Kelvin CLP)
Frieda Park (Glasgow Cathcart CLP)
Richard Parker (Edinburgh Central CLP)
Cammy Ramsay (Ayr CLP)
Daniel Scott (Glasgow Kelvin CLP)
Will Tillotson (Stirling CLP)
Jane Wilson (Edinburgh Northern and Leith CLP)
[Names added after initial email was sent]
David Cartwright (Glasgow Anniesland CLP)
Mark Gallagher (Cathcart CLP)
Matt Kerr (Glasgow Pollok CLP)
If you are a Scottish Labour member and would like to add your name to this letter, please email us.
We will update this article if and when we receive a response from Scottish Labour.