SCOTTISH Labour have defended the think-tank boss who said people smugglers should be sent to live on a barge in Scotland as a “fantastic” General Election candidate just months after briefing that he is “an irrelevant dobber” who should be ignored.
Scottish Labour issued a statement defending John Simons’s selection in the safe Labour seat of Makerfield in Greater Manchester on Thursday – just three months after categorically insisting: “Josh Simons’s views do not represent the Labour Party.”
In February, Simons made headlines after saying smuggler gangs helping people to cross the English Channel should be placed on a barge, adding: “And then ship the barge up to the north of Scotland for all I care. Who cares?”
'Why don't you put the smuggler gangs on the barge and ship it to Scotland for all I care?' Criticising the government's Rwanda plan, @joshsimonstweet has a solution for the 'small boats crisis' if Labour win the next election.@IainDale pic.twitter.com/rZrGJmaoSB
— LBC (@LBC) February 12, 2024
Amid the backlash, Scottish Labour tried to distance themselves from Simons, the director of the Labour Together think tank established by prominent frontbenchers including shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.
A party spokesperson said at the time: “Every party has elements on the fringes that give them moments of cringe. This is a ludicrous comment and we couldn’t be clearer – Josh Simon’s views do not represent the Labour Party.
“People making stupid comments like this are best ignored. Labour will scrap the Tories’ immoral and unworkable Rwanda plan and tackle criminal gangs.”
Scots Labour group leader Anas Sarwar gave a strikingly similar quote to the Daily Record, saying: “My first reaction is ‘who?’ Every party has elements on the fringes that give them moments of cringe.
“I think people that are making stupid, flippant comments like that are best ignored.”
And one senior Labour figure told The Times that Simons was “an irrelevant dobber”.
Scottish Labour found themselves undermined just one month later after it was revealed that Simons’s Labour Together think tank had provided an aide to support shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray.
Following his selection, the SNP have brought up Simons’s comments from February in a renewed attack on the party.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “Labour have selected a candidate who said that gangs should be put on a barge and shipped to the north of Scotland.
“At the time, Anas Sarwar said ‘he doesn’t represent the Labour Party’.
“Well, he does now.”
In response, Scottish Labour have stood by Simons, calling him a “fantastic” candidate.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “This desperate SNP attack is proof the party is well and truly out of positive ideas on how to deliver the change Scotland needs.
“Instead of worrying about a months-old interview by a candidate in Makerfield, the SNP should focus on fixing the chaos it has made in Scotland – from sky-high NHS waiting lists to a flatlining economy.
“Labour has selected a fantastic group of candidates in place for the General Election on Thursday 4 July.
“It’s clear that only Labour has a real plan to deliver the change that Scotland needs – by cutting bills, boosting pay, growing our economy and renewing public services.”
