'I wouldn't change anything I've done which led to me losing Labour whip', says Brian Leishman

The Alloa and Grangemouth MP said his criticisms of the UK Government were “justified” and that he “shouldn’t have” been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Mr Leishman sat as an independent for four months before being readmitted to the Labour group at the start of November.

He had lost the whip for criticising the Labour Government in the media and the House of Commons.

When asked how he felt about being suspended, Mr Leishman said: “A range of emotions.

“Number one, I don't think I should have been suspended in the first instance. I thought I was just following what I consider to be real Labour Party values.

“And I also think as well as you can't have this conversation without talking about the internal democracy that needs to happen in any political party, and that you've got to basically have a range of opinions that have got to be encouraged, tolerated and respected, and crucially, listened to by leadership and with some of the decisions that the leadership have U-turned on.

“I think it's fair to say that the left of the parliamentary party is still an effective fighting force, and it deserves to be listened to.

“But don't don't get me wrong, as well as one of the emotions I felt was sadness, because I've been a Labour member since 2016 I love the party.

“I still think that the party is the answer that millions of people in this country desperately need, the vehicle for change.

“I've described it in the past, and making society a more just, a more just and compassionate society, and I want to be part of that.

“So very sad to have lost a whip, but also I don't think I should have.”

Mr Leishman has been one of the most outspoken Labour MPs since being elected in July last year. He has been very critical of the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in his constituency.

He called for the UK government to step in and save the plant, but it has refused to do so.

Mr Leishman was also one of four Scottish Labour MPs who voted against the government's welfare reforms earlier this year. He also signed an SNP amendment on compensating Waspi women, and recently backed a Nationalist MP’s bill to get rid of the two-child cap.

When asked if he felt isolated when he wasn’t in the Labour group, he said: “I think, while you're still sitting on on the government benches, it did say in the order paper, if I had a question: ‘Independent, Alloa and Grangemouth’, or on the on the screen it said ‘Independent’ next to my name.

“That's no ideal, but I wouldn't have changed any anything that I've said or anything that I've done that possibly led me to losing the whip.

“ So no [I didn’t feel isolated]. I think everything I've done was justified.

“I didn't feel isolated because I was sitting as an independent although Chris, Rachel and Neil, they were in a similar sort of boat, and Diane Abbott, we kept in touch as the kind of five that had been shunned by the party, and that was a good support mechanism as well.

“But what I will say there were some good comrades in the Scottish Labour Party that did keep in touch with me over the summer months, when everyone's back home in the constituency and trying to get a bit of a breather.

“So I would just like to say thank you to them for keeping in contact and their support and solidarity. It was very important.”