LABOUR has suspended its East Lothian constituency party amid a row ovr the re-selection of MP Anne Moffat as a candidate.
The party has been at the centre of an ongoing row over the re-selection of the current Westminster MP to fight the next election.
All the internal structures have been closed down and are being run centrally.
"It is normal that the business bein
g transacted by the local party is suspended pending the dispute being resolved," a Scottish Labour spokesman said today.
"The NEC will now work with the local party to resolve matters amicably."
East Lothian is Labour's biggest constituency party in Scotland.
Ms Moffat gained the support of only two of six branches in the constituency in her battle for re-selection, but was endorsed as the candidate as a result of the votes from union affiliates.
The NEC initially endorsed Ms Moffat as the candidate, but subsequent complaints locally have led to the NEC stepping in today and suspending the party.
Ms Moffat was first elected to serve East Lothian in 2001.
She attracted criticism after claiming £40,000 in travel expenses between 2003 and 2004, more than any other MP.
Mr Gray said today: "This is a matter for the constituency Labour Party and the Party at a national level.
"I am pleased that the National Executive committee is seeking to resolve it and I hope that will happen quickly.
"My work as county MSP continues as usual."
But Tory Westminster candidate for East Lothian Michael Veitch branded the development a "huge embarrassment" for Mr Gray.
"The East Lothian Labour Party, which has long been in a state of perpetual crisis, has now finally imploded," he said.
"If even Labour HQ has no faith in the ability of the local Labour party to carry on, and is forced to make this public knowledge, what does that say about their ability to represent the people of East Lothian, who frankly deserve better than this never-ending circus?
"It is also a huge embarrassment for Anne Moffat and indeed Iain Gray, who both have a lot of very difficult questions to answer."
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said today it was "humiliating" for Mr Gray.
He said: "Labour has finally confirmed the worst kept secret in Scottish politics. Iain Gray is London Labour's man.
"Since Jim Murphy took over at the Scotland Office Iain Gray will have got used to taking his orders from London – now his constituency party is being run from there too."
The full article contains 428 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
