Harris admits defeat in Scottish leadership contest

Tom Harris has admitted defeat in his bid for the leadership of the Scottish party, but not without throwing a barb at the party. The MP told Scotland on Sunday:

“Realistically speaking I am not sure that the Scottish Labour party is prepared to take as radical a step as having an MP as its leader yet.”

“My message has been that Labour is in really deep trouble and that we need to think outside the box. There is no indication that the party is prepared to do that yet and I don’t know why.”

Harris has faced an uphill struggle throughout the leadership contest, without the backing of MSPs, constituency parties or trade unions held by his rivals. The result will be announced in one week.