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Tuesday 27 January 2015

Jim Murphy is "running scared" in East Renfrewshire

With just 100 days to go until the general election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) has accused Jim Murphy of “running scared” of Westminster after the Labour leader continues to offer mixed messages about whether or not he will stand down as an MP. 

Asked at the weekend by the BBC's Andrew Neil on the Sunday Politics to give a categorical answer on whether he will stand for election to Westminster in May, Jim Murphy repeatedly refused, on a number of occasions and responded by saying “I’ll tell my constituents if the situation changes”.

Meanwhile after a weekend of what the SNP call "posturing on fracking", Jim Murphy’s Labour MPs failed to back a moratorium in Westminster. Friends of the Earth Scotland criticised Scottish Labour’s failure to live up to its warm words, saying “it was a surprise that Scottish Labour MPs seem to have mostly abstained, given the party’s new commitments over the weekend.”

Commenting, SNP candidate for East Renfrewshire Kirsten Oswald said: "There are now just 100 days to go until the Westminster election and Jim Murphy cannot even tell his constituents whether he will be standing or not. One minute the papers say he’s standing, the next he’s saying he might not. And in much the same way, one day he says Labour will oppose fracking and the next his MPs failed to vote for a moratorium. How is anyone meant to trust a word that Jim Murphy says?"

Continuing Ms Oswald commented: "Voters have a right to know what Jim Murphy will do and this constant shifting of his position simply takes them for granted. I look forward to contesting this seat with whoever Labour eventually puts forward, but this situation is rapidly turning into a farce for Labour – their own leader appears to be running scared of making a decision."


"Jim Murphy is out of time and must tell people in East Renfrewshire whether he will be standing in May or not." Kirsten Oswald added.