Investigation Into Allegations Of Labour Cheating
Scotland's Procurator Fiscal is to investigate allegations that the newly elected Labour MP, Mohammed Sarwar, bribed an opponent to fight a losing campaign during the General Election.
The inquiry is taking place at the request of Mr Sarwar, MP for Glasgow Govan, after the allegations were made in the News Of The World.
Mr Sarwar was summoned to Downing Street at the weekend, where he met with the Chief Whip Nick Brown at No.12.
After the meeting Mr Brown said he would ask Labour's National Executive Committee to consider whether an internal party investigation was also necessary.
The Glasgow MP issued a statement saying he had asked Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar to request an inquiry. He said the allegations were "totally false" and that he would be taking legal advice on pursuing a libel action. "After all" he said "everyone's has to have a fair chance to prove their innocence."
Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar said he had spoken to the Lord Advocate who
had ordered an "immediate and rigorous" investigation by the Crown Office into
the allegations.
The SNP candidate Nicola Sturgeon, who was narrowly beaten by Mr Sarwar, has expressed concern that this issue should not drag on. She called upon the Labour Party and the Crown Office to bring matters to a "speedy conclusion".
The News of the World claimed the newly-elected MP for Glasgow Govan, Mohammed Sarwar, paid £5,000 to an Independent Labour candidate during a series of secret meetings.
The Home Secretary, Jack Straw. said "This is a very serious set of allegations, I don't know whether they are true, but there will be a full investigation."
Speaking on BBC 1's Breakfast with Frost Mr Straw continued, "We made it clear before the election that we take such accusations very seriously indeed, and serious actions will flow, if these allegations are found to be substantiated".
Multi-millionaire Mr Sarwar, who owns a cash-and-carry chain, was alleged to have handed over the money to fellow Asian, Baddar Islam in a secret meeting in the back of his white Mercedes.
According to the News of the World , Mr Sarwar offered to pay Mr Badar a further £100,000 if he felt any danger. The newspaper quoted Mr Badar as saying, "Sarwar asked me to ease off my canvassing and said I would be compensated...Naturally he didn't want me to break his vote, to take his vote, to disturb his vote. If I did hard canvassing I would have got lots more votes. The Asian vote would have been split as well...After our first meeting I didn't bother canvassing for about a month."
The paper shows a picture of Mr Sarwar and Mr Badar climbing into Mr Sarwar's car and another of the men leaving Glasgow's Marriott Hotel, where part of the meeting was alleged to have taken place.
In the election Mr Sarwar held the seat for Labour with a 2,914 majority over the Scottish National Party candidate, while Mr Badar polled 319 votes.
Govan Election Result.
Mr Sarwar's victory was the subject of a complaint to Strathclyde police over allegations of late registrations in the constituency.
Before he won the seat he was involved in a bitter selection battle with the former MP for Glasgow Central, Mike Watson, whose seat disappeared in the boundary changes.
Mr Watson narrowly won the first ballot but Labour chiefs ordered a re-run which Mr Sarwar won, again by a small margin - amid claims of racist "dirty tricks".
The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, refused to speculate on what sanctions would be imposed if the allegations were true, but he did say that any sanctions would come not only from the Labour party, but also parliament and the law.
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