Scottish Labour Party candidate suspended for ‘pro-Russian’ post

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died in July 2018 from exposure to the nerve agent Novichok, which was left in a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

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It followed the attempted murders of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and former police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in nearby Salisbury in March of the same year.

All three survived, as did Ms. Sturgess’s boyfriend, Charlie Rowley.

Russian citizens Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov (right) at Salisbury railway station (Image: PA)

The Metropolitan Police identified three suspects wanted in connection with the poisonings: Denis Sergeev, Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the code names Sergey Fedotov, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in the UK.

According to the Press and Journal, Brown also quoted a Jewish historian that same month as saying: “The real problem is that right-wing Jews inside and outside the Labour Party object to Jeremy Corbyn’s consistent support for Palestinian rights.”

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A Scottish Labour Party spokesman told the BBC: “Andy Brown has been suspended from the Labour Party pending the outcome of the investigation.

“We have taken the decision to withdraw our support from a parliamentary candidate during a parliamentary election.

“Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer transformed the Labour Party and said every candidate and MP would work to the highest standards. This action shows they meant it.”

Because the nomination deadline has passed, Mr Brown will still appear on the ballot paper as a Labour candidate, meaning that if elected on July 4, he will stand as an independent.