Labour split by Monklands 'bias' Labour suffers split at the top

contradicted the stance taken by candidate Helen Liddell on allegations

against the local district council.

Mr Clarke, a former provost of the council, dismissed as ''McCarthyite

smears'' the accusations against the Labour-run council. These have

included claims of a spending bias in favour of Coatbridge, which is in

Mr Clarke's Monklands West seat, at the expense of Airdrie in Monklands

East.

Last week Mrs Liddell said council figures showed there had been an

''unacceptable'' concentration of expenditure on projects in one part of

the district, and promised to fight for a ''more equal distribution'' of

capital spending. At the same time, Labour's Scottish general secretary,

Mr Jack McConnell, said he had asked Scottish Secretary Ian Lang to

investigate allegations against the council under the Local Government

(Scotland) Act.

Mrs Liddell's stance was seen as a U-turn by Labour's rivals, who have

accused the council of irregularities, including alleged nepotism and

sectarianism, and who sought to embarrass the late Labour leader, Mr

John Smith, and Mr Clarke, when he was Shadow Scottish Secretary, over

the row.

With the poll in two days, Mr Clarke spoke out in defence of the

council in an interview broadcast on BBC TV's Reporting Scotland last

night.

''The perceived problems are largely McCarthyite smears, mythology.

Ian Lang, who has the power to have an inquiry and was challenged to do

so by John Smith and myself several times, won't have an inquiry,'' he

said.

''Well, why won't he have an inquiry? If an inquiry had been held, the

accusations would have been laughed out of court.''

Mr Clarke also said in the interview: ''I do not know what figures

Helen Liddell has seen. What I do know is that John Smith and myself

were fighting, and fighting very hard, to make sure we got the resources

for both towns.''

He said he looked forward to joining Mrs Liddell in campaigning

jointly for cash. His remarks, however, were immediately contradicted in

a statement issued last night by Mrs Liddell. ''I am the candidate for

Monklands East. I called for these figures and I am more than satisfied

of the need to redress the balance of spending in the district.''

She added firmly: ''I am going to fight for fairness for everyone in

Monklands East and I'll fight anyone, nationally or locally, to get

fairness for the people of this area.

''To get at the truth, I continue to demand a public inquiry from the

Secretary of State. Local people deserve no less.''

A Labour campaign worker said: ''It seems crazy to me that Mr Clarke

and our candidate will appear to be at loggerheads so near to the

poll.''

The clash with Mrs Liddell is all the more remarkable because he

backed her strongly for the nomination as candidate. They have worked

together closely in the past and Mrs Liddell was once Mr Clarke's

election agent.

Mrs Liddell's rivals were astonished last week when she backed claims

that there had been discrimination in favour of mainly Roman Catholic

Coatbridge against mainly Protestant Airdrie on prestige capital

spending projects. She had changed her mind after studying an analysis

on three years spending in the district covering both towns.

Mr Clarke's remarks were seized upon by the SNP camp. Mr Alex Neil, a

member of the party's national executive committee, said: ''This should

finish Helen Liddell's campaign. It shows they are split top to

bottom.''

The SNP candidate, Mrs Kay Ullrich, said Mr Clarke had ''finally come

out of hiding'' and had split the Labour campaign ''wide open''.

She said: ''He claims he has not seen the figures showing unfair

spending. Everyone else has seen them, they have been public knowledge

for years.

''Tom Clarke was provost of Monklands for years . . . Mrs Liddell must

wish he had kept his mouth shut for another three days.''