SCOTTISH Labour have faced accusations of hypocrisy after branding SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes a “tartan Tory”.
Anas Sarwar’s party hit out at the Finance Secretary – as well as her rivals – during the BBC leadership debate which was broadcast on Tuesday evening.
Scottish Labour said that Forbes was “hiding in plain sight”, adding: “Scotland deserves better than a Tartan Tory.”
In a graphic showing Forbes and large, lettering saying “Tartan Tory”, Labour included a quote from an article in The Times. This read: “I feel like I could be listening to a David Cameron-style Conservative, I tell her. She does not protest.”
The attack drew a response from SNP MSP James Dornan, who wrote: “Pick almost any council and you’ll find the real Tartan Tories working with the UK Tories.
“Labour still treating the people of Scotland like idiots.”
Pick almost any council and you’ll find the real Tartan Tories working with the UK Tories. Labour still treating the people of Scotland like idiots. https://t.co/V7FLUGvdS8
— James Dornan SNP (@glasgowcathcart) March 15, 2023
Another Twitter user quipped that Labour’s graphic was the “pot calling the kettle blue”.
Others accused Labour of missing the "irony" of their attack, given Keir Starmer's alignment with the Tories on key issues including Brexit.
Pollster Mark McGeoghegan said the next election cycle may end up being “SNP and Labour politicians and activists calling each other Tartan/Red Tories if Forbes wins”.
The Finance Secretary is running for first minister on a platform that is more right-leaning than her rivals, Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan. However, she has denied that her leadership would represent a shift to the right for the SNP.
Speaking to The National earlier in March, Forbes said: “No, I wouldn’t [that she would shift the SNP rightwards]. I don’t think anybody who believes in eradicating poverty is shifting to the right.”
Forbes has also faced criticism during the campaign for her conservative social views, including her opposition to gay marriage.
Yousaf and Regan were also targeted by Scottish Labour during the BBC debate. They said that the Health Secretary was “up to the job” of first minister, and attacked Regan for not being trusted by the public.
