by Chris McLaughlin
The fate of East Lothian MP Anne Moffat is to be decided by a special meeting of Labour chiefs following a long and acrimonious tussle with local party members.
A calling notice for the meeting on March 3 refers to the discovery of “new information” relating to calls for her selection to be reopened.
A meeting of the constituency general management committee in January voted by 25 votes to five to refer Ms Moffat’s candidacy to the National Executive Committee. Police were called to the meeting at Prestonpans Labour club after 25 people were denied access.
Friends of Ms Moffat say she has been the victim of “bullying and intimidation” and party officials have told the Scottish media that she has a “difficult working relationship” with the party.
Speculation that Holyrood Labour leader Iain Gray is coveting the seat, which Ms Moffat has represented since 2001, has been officially described as “nonsense”.
An attempt to oust Ms Moffat in 2007 failed when dormant trade union branches came to her aid. A motion of no confidence was ruled unconstitutional and the local party was suspended for four months.
Ms Moffat attracted controversy in 2004 when her £40,000 bill for travel to Glasgow, London, Malta and Portugal was disclosed after legal action. More recently, she has sacked three staff members and compared SNP leader Alex Salmond to Hitler.
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