Falkirk West By-election 2000

'By resigning, Mr Canavan is likely to sacrifice almost £50,000 of a golden handshake which the Commons would have given him as an MP retiring routinely or suffering defeat.' Murray Ritchie and Robbie Dinwoodie in the Herald, 21 st November 2000

Labour poll turmoil as Canavan sinks deal

By Murray Ritchie and Robbie Dinwoodie in the Herald, 21 st November 2000

Without giving detailed reasons for his latest and unexpected U-turn, Mr Canavan, Independent MSP for Falkirk West, threw Labour into turmoil, casting fresh doubt on the outcome of the double by-election taking place in Glasgow Anniesland on Thursday.

But more ominously for Labour, his renewed estrangement means a by-election for his Westminster seat, the one event Labour dreaded and which prompted the party to try to buy him off with an offer of reconciliation if he stayed put in the Commons until the General Election.

By resigning, Mr Canavan is likely to sacrifice almost £50,000 of a golden handshake which the Commons would have given him as an MP retiring routinely or suffering defeat.

As Labour MP for Falkirk West, he had a majority of 13,783. After his notorious rejection by Labour as "just not good enough" for the Scottish Parliament, Mr Canavan stood as an Independent for the same seat and won by 12,912 votes over Labour, the biggest majority in Scotland.

For First Minister Henry McLeish, known to favour Mr Canavan's return to the Labour fold in return for his good behaviour, the news is bad. Labour faces a grim contest in Falkirk.

Mr Canavan gave no explanation for his volte face beyond saying he had "additional in- formation" about the reasons for his rejection as a potential Scottish Parliament candidate. In a letter dated yesterday to Labour general secretary Margaret McDonagh, he said: "Since our last discussion, I have received additional information about the circumstances which led to my exclusion from the Labour Party's list of approved candidates for last year's election to the Scottish Parliament.

"As a result I have no confidence in the present leadership of the Labour Party and I therefore no longer wish to pursue my application to rejoin the Party. I now intend giving up my membership of the House of Commons, as originally planned, and I have today submitted in writing my request for the necessary procedure to commence."

As Mr Canavan went into hiding last night, Mr Jim Lapsley, who was his agent both as Labour and as an Independent, expressed doubts that Mr McLeish was the cause.

Mr Lapsley thought Mr Canavan had faith only in Chancellor Gordon Brown, an old friend, which leaves Tony Blair as the likely object of Mr Canavan's wrath. He said Mr Canavan had been genuinely "torn up" by his treatment: "All I know is that various people came to see him after the olive branch was offered by the party. Dennis has since complained that he was just shafted by 'someone on high'. He feels there is no basis for trust.

"Labour were going to get rid of the by-election threat and Dennis would shut up. That was basically the deal."

Only when Mr Canavan was persuaded to return to the Labour fold did he discover the depths of feeling against him from some within the party.

He knew the extent of the bad feeling between himself and the late Donald Dewar, who famously dubbed him "just not good enough" during an event attended by Mr Blair. That brutal assessment flashed around the media and it may be that Mr Canavan has only now realised that it carried the stamp of the Prime Minister himself. That would explain Mr Canavan's coded references in his letter.

His decision came as Labour was believed to be about to readmit him. A Labour Party spokesman said: "Dennis Canavan had crossed the first hurdle in his application to rejoin the Labour Party today. The organisation sub-committee of the NEC met and agreed that Dennis could be interviewed with a view to a final report on his application going before the NEC on Tuesday."

Mr McLeish said it was up to Mr Canavan to explain himself. "Discussions with Dennis Canavan have been going on for some time. Dennis Canavan said that he wanted to re-join the party and the conditions had been created for him to do so, provided he accepted the responsibilities that come with party membership."

He said the party was "happy to discuss the matter further with him, and so am I".

SNP leader John Swinney said: "It is an abject humiliation for Henry McLeish and the Labour leadership. Having fallen over themselves to embrace Dennis Canavan, solely to avoid a by-election in Falkirk West, Labour are once again staring defeat in the face."

Scottish Tory chairman Raymond Robertson said: "This news says more about the incompetence of the First Minister than it does about Dennis Canavan."

-Nov 21st