Labour clears Unite of any wrongdoing in Falkirk selection contest

The party says "no organisation or individual has been found to have breached the rules" and reinstates suspended members Karie Murphy and Stephen Deans.

By George Eaton

In time-honoured Westminster tradition, Labour has used Friday afternoon to bury bad news.

Following its internal inquiry into the Falkirk selection row, the party has issued a statement clearing both Unite and the suspended party members Karie Murphy (who stood for selection) and Stephen Deans of any wrongdoing. It said that “no organisation or individual has been found to have breached the rules as they stood at the time”. Here’s the full statement.

The Labour Party began an internal process to examine the controversy surrounding the selection of a parliamentary candidate for Falkirk. At each step Labour’s general secretary and NEC have acted quickly to protect the interest of the party.

Since Labour began its internal process key evidence has been withdrawn and further evidence provided by individuals concerned. Karie Murphy and Steve Deans, who were suspended, will now be reinstated as they have not been guilty of any wrongdoing. No organisation or individual has been found to have breached the rules as they stood at the time.

The general secretary has determined that given these circumstances Labour should move to select its candidate for Falkirk West.

These steps will enable Labour in Falkirk without further delay to choose a candidate and prepare for the general election.

Murphy has released a simultaneous statement announcing her withdrawal from the selection.

It is no concidence that the matter has been resolved two days before the start of the TUC conference and a few weeks before Labour’s gathering in Brighton. Earlier this week, Unite’s Scottish branch warned that it would boycott the Labour conference unless Murphy and Deans were reinstated.

The question that will now be asked is why the row was allowed to escalate to the point that the police were called in if there was no evidence of wrongdoing. There will also be even greater pressure on the party to finally publish its report on the debacle. But most significantly, it will now be far harder for Miliband to defend his trade union reforms, which were entirely framed as a response to the alleged wrongdoing.