Labour suspend candidate over offensive tweets about Humza Yousaf and Gaza
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Labour have suspended a candidate in Gordon Brown’s old seat over offensive tweets made by others which she has liked or shared about the Gaza conflict.
Wilma Brown is now under investigation after a range of social media posts surfaced that made false claims about Humza Yousaf, the Scottish First Minister, and suggested he sent taxpayers’ money to Hamas.
The 58-year-old, who leads a health group convened by the Unison trade union, was set to stand in the must-win seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, a constituency represented by Mr Brown, the former prime minister, between 2005 and 2015.
The seat has swung between the SNP and Labour in recent elections. It is currently represented by Neale Hanvey, who defected to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party in March 2021.
Ms Brown shared a post that incorrectly asserted Mr Yousaf “meets with Hamas and gives them [half a million pounds] of our money”.
Last month, Mr Yousaf was accused of a conflict of interest after overriding officials to give £250,000 to a Gaza aid agency at the same time as members of his family were trapped in the warzone.
Ms Brown also liked an offensive post posted in response to Aman Bhogal, a former diplomat who has previously stood as a Conservative general election candidate.
In response to Mr Bhogal praising the St George’s Cross following the row over Nike’s new England football kit, the tweet endorsed by Ms Brown told him it was “not your flag” and “you will never be an Englishman”.
Ms Brown deleted her X profile on Wednesday night. She had described herself as a “fun-loving grandma of two warrior girls” on her profile, adding: “Social justice and equality is at the core of my soul.”
Brown not the first Labour candidate to go
In February, Labour was forced to withdraw its support for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali after he was embroiled in an anti-Semitism row.
Sir Keir Starmer initially defied calls from Jewish community leaders to suspend Mr Ali, standing by the candidate after the councillor claimed Israel had deliberately let Hamas massacre its citizens on Oct 7 as a pretext to attack Gaza.
While Mr Ali apologised for those comments, Labour dropped its backing for him after the Daily Mail obtained a recording of him railing against “some of the people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” and accusing Israel of a “land grab”.
A Labour spokesman said: “The Labour Party takes all complaints seriously. They are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate action is taken.”
A Unison spokesman said the trade union had been made “aware of a number of serious concerns” about Ms Brown’s activity on social media.
“While the Labour Party conducts its own investigation into the matter, it would be inappropriate to say anything more,” the spokesman added.
Ms Brown was contacted for comment.
