LABOUR's new leader in Scotland has pledged to do "everything in my power" to save the Prime Minister from a disastrous defeat in the Glenrothes by-election.
Iain Gray also used his first speech to the party's national conference in Manchester to call for MPs to unite behind Gordon Brown and "fight shoulder to shoulder and side by side" for a fairer Britain.
But he reserved much of his five-minute addr
ess – delivered early yesterday morning to a poorly attended conference hall – for an attack on the SNP's record at Holyrood and "separatist posturing".
Mr Gray, who was elected leader ten days ago in a poll of MSPs, Scottish MPs and Labour activists, made no policy announcements but served notice that he would be taking the fight to the SNP administration at Holyrood.
He said Labour's ousting from government at Holyrood last year "still hurts", and admitted that many critics believed the party had been sleepwalking into the defeat.
"If we did, we are wide awake now," he said.
Some Labour figures already believe that the party has no chance of retaining Glenrothes, where it is defending a 10,664 majority following the death of sitting MP John MacDougall. A date has yet to be set for the Westminster by-election, but Mr Gray reported that his first act on becoming leader was to visit the constituency.
Many believe a heavy Labour defeat will magnify the pressure on Mr Brown, following the party's trouncing by the SNP in Glasgow East. But Mr Gray, an MSP since 1999 and a former minister, said: "I will do everything to ensure that Labour's Lindsay Roy will be the next MP for Glenrothes."
Urging his party to "face outwards, not in" and rediscover its "self-belief", he added: "Now is the time to unite behind our Prime Minister Gordon Brown and fight shoulder to shoulder and side by side with him for the fairer future we know we can have."
He claimed that "the people of Scotland don't want independence", adding that the Nationalists "want the Tories to win the next general election" to help distance the Westminster government from the views of many Scots.
SNP MSP and chief whip Brian Adam said the "low" turnout for Mr Gray's speech showed how little Scotland mattered to the Labour Party.
He added: "Iain Gray is facing another electoral disaster for his party and himself, as an analysis shows he would lose his own seat at the next Scottish Parliament elections."
The full article contains 423 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
