A candidate for Labour has been suspended by the party following reports that he shared material online which appeared to downplay Russia’s role in the Salisbury poisonings.
Andy Brown, who is standing in Aberdeen North and Moray East, shared an article from Russian state media outlet RT in April 2018 which claimed the “toxin” used in the poisonings was “never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other Nato states”.
The posts were uncovered by the Press and Journal.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, which had been left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire, in July 2018.
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It followed the attempted murders of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and ex-police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March that year.
All three survived, as did Ms Sturgess’s boyfriend, Charlie Rowley.
The Metropolitan Police identified three suspects wanted in connection with the poisonings: Denis Sergeev, Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the aliases Sergey Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov respectively while in the UK.
According to the Press and Journal, in the same month Mr Brown also shared a quote from a Jewish historian which said: “The real issue.. is that right-wing Jews in the Labour party and outside the party object to the fact that Jeremy Corbyn is a consistent supporter of Palestinian rights.”
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A spokesman for Scottish Labour told the BBC: “Andy Brown has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation.
“We have taken the decision to withdraw support from a Parliamentary candidate during a General Election.
“Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer have changed the Labour Party and said that every candidate and MP would operate to the highest standards. This action shows that they meant it.”
Mr Brown will still appear as a Labour candidate on the ballot as the deadline for nominations has passed, meaning he will stand as an independent if elected on July 4.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “very, very pleased” that the candidate had been suspended.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Ms Reeves said: “I hadn’t heard of this guy until this morning and I’m very, very pleased that I will hopefully not have to hear of him again because he’s been suspended as a Labour candidate.
“That is absolutely right. We’ve taken the swift action. As soon as these postings came to light, we got rid of him.”
She added: “People who don’t share our values in the changed Labour Party are kicked out of the Labour Party, while the Conservative Party continues to harbour people like Liz Truss, who has caused so much damage to the lives of working people up and down the country.”
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