THE boss of a pro-Union pressure group has been chosen to stand as a Scottish Labour candidate at the next General Election.
Pamela Nash, CEO of Scotland in Union, was confirmed to be standing in Motherwell and Wishaw for the party at the next UK-wide vote.
Scotland in Union, formed in 2015, is a pro-UK campaign group to help keep Scotland in the UK.
Nash previously came under criticism for urging Scottish voters to vote tactically for the Tories during last year’s local council elections.
The former Labour MP, for Airdrie and Shotts between 2010 and 2015, warned that “pro-separation” councillors would be focused on a push for indyref2.
Nash’s group launched the campaign “Vote 1,2,3 to stop the SNP” and claimed she reached more than 500,000 people through leaflets, social media and digital adverts.
And now, Nash is going to stand at the next General Election. The party confirmed the selection on Thursday evening, tweeting: “Congratulations to @pamela_nash - Labour’s candidate for Motherwell and Wishaw!”
🗳️ Congratulations to @pamela_nash - Labour’s candidate for Motherwell and Wishaw! pic.twitter.com/RsyFn3GZG9
— Scottish Labour (@ScottishLabour) April 20, 2023
Many social media users were quick to point out her pro-Union views and that she encouraged voters to back the Tories.
“The Blue and Red Tories’ ‘Better Together’ alliance really is in full swing,” one user wrote.
“Labour in Scotland being exciting and new,” another added.
Aberdeen Independence Movement (AIM) added: “If anything says, if you support independence, don't vote Labour, it's this.”
Marion Fellows, SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, said: “The pro-Brexit Labour party cannot help themselves but try and tune up the old Better Together band one last time."
Scotland In Union, Fellows claimed, was a "front for the No campaign".
She added: “Just last week Douglas Ross was urging voters to back Labour, and now Anas Sarwar’s party has selected Pamela Nash who wanted people to back the Tories at the last election.
“Both parties are so similar these days that they are happy for you to vote for the other, no matter the disastrous consequences for Scotland.
“We are all too familiar with this arrangement now between the Tories and Labour after they made grubby deals last year in council chambers across Scotland.
“All this demonstrates is that the SNP is the only alternative choice from Westminster control and a red or blue Tory entering 10 Downing Street."
During her time as an MP, Nash faced criticism after she “missed” a vote on the Westminster vote on the bedroom tax.
She sparked fury amongst local residents for missing the vital vote. Nash had been speaking at a youth unemployment conference in Vienna instead and insisted her absence was due to a parliamentary convention where MPs are “paired”.
Nash has been the Scotland in Union boss since 2017, after her predecessor quit over the workload.
