SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has called for the suspended Aberdeen Nine to be let back into the Labour Party.

The nine councillors were suspended from the party in 2017 after forming a coalition with the Tories in the wake of the council elections.

Following former leader Richard Leonard’s resignation, the group had said they were hopeful a new leader would see them reinstated.

The National:

“I think we’re a great advert for what Scottish Labour is all about,” said Jenny Laing, the co-leader of Aberdeen City Council.

During an interview with BBC Good Morning Scotland today, Sarwar backed allowing the councillors back into the party. They are currently suspended until 2022.

“I want them to be back in. I believe they are Labour councillors who are working on the frontline delivering Labour policies in Aberdeen, a Labour manifesto in Aberdeen, making progress in Aberdeen and actually won the UK council of the year,” he told listeners. “We should be proud of that fact.”

Despite that, the MSP said he “opposed both the UK and Scottish Tories” who he believes are “wrong in so many areas”.

READ MORE: 'Aberdeen Nine' to remain suspended from Labour until 2022

He insisted parties should work together – citing examples including the SNP working with Labour on the period products bill or the Greens collaborating with other groups during the 2020 exams row.

“So I’m not averse to working with individual political parties on individual issues because I do think there comes a point where there are issues where you have to work together in the national interest,” he said.

Before his resignation, Leonard insisted that keeping administrative suspensions in place against the Aberdeen Nine would send a “clear message that serious rule breaches will result in serious repercussions”.

He added: “It is disappointing that the nine councillors in three-and-a-half years have offered neither regret nor a resolution to avoid this decision.

“I have expressed my frustration before that this case has taken so long to be brought to a conclusion.

“Now it is time to move on.”