Scottish Labour suspends candidate for ‘pro-Russian’ social media post

The BBC reports that Andy Brown, who is running in Aberdeen North and Moray East, shared an article from Russian state media outlet RT (formerly known as Russia Today) in April 2018 claiming that the “poison” used in the poisonings was “never made in Russia but was in use in the US, UK and other NATO countries”.

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.

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.

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar promises tax cuts… but says there is no money to abolish two-child limit

All three survived, as did Sturgess’ friend Charlie Rowley.

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.”

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.”

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