Scotland’s top union official Derek Thomson suspended over sexual misconduct allegations
The head of the UK’s largest trade union in Scotland has been suspended over allegations of sexual misconduct, it has been reported.
Derek Thomson, who has been Unite’s Scottish secretary since 2023, faces complaints of inappropriate behaviour towards a woman, which are understood to be of a historical nature.
Union sources told the Sunday Mail that Mr Thomson had been suspended pending an investigation.
Mr Thomson is viewed as a close ally of Sharon Graham, Unite’s UK general secretary, and worked closely with her during the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery near Edinburgh.
There are reports of bitter infighting between Ms Graham’s allies and those of her predecessor, Len McCluskey.
Mr Thompson ‘innocent until proven otherwise’
A source said: “Clearly when you have allegations like this the union has no option but to suspend the employee involved and that is what has happened.
“There will be a full and proper investigation, as is the right thing to do in the circumstances. This has to do with issues that have been raised a number of years ago but have now resurfaced.”
They said Mr Thomson was “innocent until proven otherwise.”
Another source said: “There is a bitter split in the union between those loyal to the previous boss Len McCluskey and those who back current general secretary Sharon Graham. That has manifested itself in various allegations of bullying and harassment.
“However that is not to say this has anything to do with that and all allegations against anyone, no matter how senior, need to be treated with the same level of seriousness.”
Mr McCluskey – who was a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader – was replaced by Ms Graham in 2021.
She ordered an investigation into the construction of a hotel for the union in Birmingham, which found that Unite had been overcharged by at least £30m.
The report, published in July, said Mr McCluskey’s boss signed the contracts and “overruled Unite staff who raised questions about the firm, and overruled lawyers who advised against the contracts.”
It also found that Mr McCluskey took a private jet, paid for by the firm building the hotel, and attended football matches with its representatives, who paid for the tickets.
Mr McCluskey has argued that the decisions around the hotel contractors were made by the union’s former finance director, who died in 2020, but the report was unable to confirm this.
Responding to the allegations about Mr Thomson, a Unite spokesman said: “Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, under the present leadership any complaints of inappropriate behavior are taken extremely seriously and dealt with decisively.
“No stone will be left unturned to deal with any historic or current wrongdoing. This has been proven by the action taken to investigate historical allegations of corruption surrounding the Birmingham hotel.
“Under the current leadership the necessary action has and always will be taken.”
Head of Investigations
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