Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy has defended her relationship with a convicted sex offender, saying she was “providing support to a highly vulnerable person”.
The Glasgow parliamentarian resigned her frontbench role in December after her ongoing friendship with Sean Morton, who was convicted of possessing indecent images of children in 2017, was revealed.
Duncan-Glancy said that the former Labour councillor was “to all intents and purposes, family”, remarking that their “personal relationship” had never affected her work.
She said: “I accept that not everyone will understand my reasons for doing what I did.
“My actions arise from loyalty and care. I was providing support to a highly vulnerable person. Loyalty and care are values that I think make me a good representative and for which I believe others know me for.”
The 44-year-old added: “When he was convicted of these very serious crimes, the justice system, rightly, dealt with him. I have never condoned his crimes and have always been clear that his actions were wrong.”
In the statement, which was provided to STV News on Wednesday afternoon, Duncan-Glancy also hit out at the decision by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to suspend her from the party.
She said she was “deeply disappointed” by the suspension, which took place two months after details of her friendship with Morton were first reported in the Daily Record.
Sarwar had previously said he would not suspend Duncan-Glancy over her ties to Morton, but backtracked on Tuesday afternoon after ex-Starmer spin doctor Matthew Doyle lost the Labour whip in the House of Lords over the scandal.
Doyle had campaigned for Morton in a 2017 election in Moray, after he had been suspended from the Labour Party over the allegations.
It has been reported that Duncan-Glancy maintained her close friendship with Morton, despite a second jail sentence, and that he attended her birthday celebrations last year following his release from prison.
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Asked on Wednesday why it had taken him months to suspend Duncan-Glancy, Sarwar said: “I didn’t appoint Pam Duncan-Glancy, I sacked her.
“When I became aware of the situation, I sacked her from the shadow cabinet. When I asked her questions that she was not able to give me appropriate answers to, I removed her as a candidate going into this election.
“And now that we have an investigation, where new information has come to light, in light of that investigation, the whip has been withdrawn."
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