The downfall of Steven Purcell, Labour’s disgraced former head of Glasgow council has opened up the lid on the rank corruption at the heart of the Labour Party. Three of their MPs face criminal trials and Purcell is now being investigated by the police for Class A drug use and “other matters”, namely to do with his alleged flogging of council contracts to his criminal mates. The Scottish coppers have started interviewing his Labour colleagues over their business deals and drugs links. Further to that the candidate selected to replace Jim Devine has been reported to the police by his own council boss for alleged offences under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act. Perhaps they could share a cell.

Despite being repeatedly asked on television and in the House, Gordon is still being cagey about the problems engulfing his old tribe. Ironically it was the SNP’s John Mason, who won the Glasgow East by-election, who asked Gordon his last ever PMQs question. Gordon again claimed he would “investigate” a conference call between Downing Street and Scottish Labour where Mr Purcell’s little problems were discussed and ruled him unsuitable to stand in that very by-election. He said exactly the same two weeks before.

Three times he has dodged answering and given the growing list of Scottish Labour mob connections you can see why he wants to keep his distance. Once would be unfortunate, twice a coincidence, but on top of the trials and police investigations, the Labour Party have been exposed as associated with organised crime in Scotland dozens of times in the last few years. Cagey Jim Murphy even had a well-known mobster pop into his fundraiser for this election. In the Labour heartlands the party is as bent as a nine bob note.