Rattled Starmer rules out deal with the SNP
SIR Keir Starmer will rule out a deal with the SNP as he tries to head off Tory warnings of a ‘coalition of chaos’ after the next election.
The Labour Party leader will try to quell fears that he will allow the Scottish nationalists to prop up a minority Labour government in exchange for an independence referendum.
It follows reports that Boris Johnson is preparing to revive a previous Tory campaign message designed to stoke fears that a vote for Labour could ultimately lead to the break-up of the UK.
Sir Keir is expected to insist that his party would not strike a deal with the SNP or grant a second independence vote.
Last week, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, announced plans to hold another referendum on whether Scotland should be independent. Voters rejected the move at a first
referendum in 2014, which SNP figures said was a oncein-a-generation poll.
Despite this, Miss Sturgeon this week threatened to bypass Westminster and Mr Johnson’s approval for a new vote – something required under Article 30 of the Scotland Act – and to directly seek a Supreme Court ruling for another referendum.
Support for Scotland leaving the UK hovers at about 50-50. Yesterday, there were reports that Sir Keir is likely to offer a guarantee against any deal, including a motion to his party conference.
Senior party figures have been urging him to set out his opposition in stronger terms to voters, especially those in England, The Guardian reported. ‘We must be louder making this argument,’ one strategist said.
Labour officials say ruling out a deal with the SNP would wreck a Conservative line of attack before it is established.
It is thought the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, will give his own speech to the Fabian Society on Monday taking the same hard line, followed by a series of meetings at shadow cabinet and with MPs to firm up the strategy.
Before May’s council elections, Mr Sarwar vetoed Labour coalitions, which forced local leaders to form minority administrations via deals with other parties. This week, Sir Keir launched an attack on Miss Sturgeon after she announced her plan, accusing her of ‘ pitting’ Scots against one another. He told LBC: ‘What we saw in Scotland during the pandemic was people coming together and communities working together.
‘Instead of harnessing that unity, what Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have done by this move is to cause division, to immediately shatter the unity and cause division and to pit Scot against Scot.’
At the next election, warnings that Labour cannot form a majority and would be dependent on SNP support are expected to be a key part of the Tory campaign against Labour and the Lib Dems.
The message is backed up by Michael Brooks, the Tory pollster, who said the threat of a second referendum will define the next election.
Former Cabinet minister Matt Hancock, who is rumoured to be plotting to become the next Conservative Party chairman, made the argument in an article for the Daily Mail this week.
He said: ‘Almost the only viable alternative to a Conservative government is a coalition between Sir Keir and Nicola Sturgeon’s separatist SNP... the risk of a grubby coalition deal that sells the union down the river.’
‘Risk of a grubby coalition deal’