A MEMBER of Scottish Labour’s shadow cabinet has “defied” leader Richard Leonard after hitting out at her party’s opposition to the Government-backed workplace parking levy.

Claudia Beamish, the spokesperson for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, said she is “uncomfortable” with Labour’s position and added that she hopes the policy “will come”.

She also dismissed the party’s line that the charge is regressive and added that many motorists in Edinburgh are men who drive SUVs.

A party source said: “Claudia has defied the party leadership and the notion of collective responsibility. She has strong environmental principles, and she will have a level of support within the party for this position, but discipline simply shouldn’t break down like this.”

Under the proposal, which was secured by the Scottish Greens during budget negotiations with the SNP Government, councils would be given the power to introduce a levy on car parking spaces. If enacted, firms could pass on the costs to their staff.

The Scottish Tories have launched a national campaign opposing the policy, while Scottish Labour have also criticised the move.

James Kelly, the party’s finance spokesperson, said recently: “The workers’ tax which is set to be introduced by the SNP and the Greens is an absolute disgrace. Labour will oppose these proposals all the way to ensure workers aren’t penalised.”

Labour’s opposition was later ratified at the party’s conference in Dundee, following a motion submitted by rail drivers’ union Aslef. However, at a meeting last week on climate change hosted by the Spokes cycle campaign, Beamish took aim at her party’s stance.

“I’ll be open about it, I feel uncomfortable about that position that our party holds. I am bound in the shadow cabinet by collective responsibility. It’s not my brief, and that’s not to pass the buck, but it was like a decision that had to be made within 48 hours,” she said.

On the conference motion, she said it had been “almost unanimously supported, [but] not by the Socialist Environment and Resources Association, which I am a member of”.

Beamish also told the meeting, which was filmed, that the levy was “seen as regressive” by Labour critics, but she insisted: “I don’t really think it is a regressive tax.”

Speaking about her own experience as a cyclist in Edinburgh, she said: “A lot of the cars are, and I’m going to be really sexist, a lot of them are driven by men and their SUVs.

After mentioning the exhausts of these cars, she added: “I just think that’s just really unacceptable in this day and age, so it’s not a policy [the Labour position] I feel comfortable with. It is going to pass, because there will be a majority in the Parliament for it.”

On the fact that Labour colleagues on Edinburgh City Council back having the power to introduce a levy, she said: “The Labour group in Edinburgh supports it, and I hope it will come, but it can’t come if there isn’t public transport.”

In a final swipe, she concluded: “But we are offering free bus travel for young people if we get into power. That’s something that is progressive.”

Beamish’s comments are the latest example of a senior Labour figure going against official party policy, despite the apparent existence of collective responsibility in the shadow cabinet.

Kelly was in the lead on Budget negotiations with the SNP this year and took a hardline stance against the Government’s spending plans. However, it emerged that colleague Alex Rowley had contacted the Government and floated the possibility of Labour support if funding for councils was increased.

Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “Like everything else, Labour have tied themselves in knots over this policy. They used to support it, then decided they didn’t like it much, and now a senior MSP is back in favour of it again. All the while, the Scottish Conservatives have been standing up to this and persuading councils to reject the hated idea.”

SNP MSP James Dornan said: “This frank and honest concession from Scottish Labour’s environment spokesperson is evidence of how opportunistic and unprincipled the Scottish Labour Party has become under Richard Leonard.

“Scottish Labour have been caught out previously on this issue with others in Richard Leonard’s frontbench condemning a policy their own councillors in Edinburgh and Glasgow are still promoting. Labour really have driven over their foot with this hypocrisy.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “Labour conference voted to oppose this measure and we will oppose it on the Transport Bill. The Government are seeking to introduce this measure with no assessment of its potential impact.”