Matter of pact will kick out the Tories
Shadow chancellor backtracks and says Labour will not offer IndyRef2 in return for supporting Corbyn as caretaker PM
LABOUR’S John McDonnell says there will be “no pacts, no deals, no understandings” with the SNP over a second independence referendum.
The Shadow Chancellor believes his party’s policies will be good enough to win over the electorate and gain support from some of their political rivals.
If Jeremy Corbyn ends up in Downing Street after the next general election, it would almost certainly be as the leader of a minority government.
Most polls have them neck-and-neck with the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives, somehow, still projected to be the largest party.
So if Labour were to achieve power, they will undoubtedly need the backing of parties hostile to the Tories’ agenda.
Step forward the SNP, who Labour should be able to work with to reverse the impoverishment of families across the UK.
They have been steadfast opponents of Brexit and worked with others to rule out a no-deal departure from the EU.
The SNP might not be able to secure a commitment from Labour for IndyRef2, at the stage.
But both sides should be open to pacts, deals and understandings when it comes to making sure the Tories are booted out of office.
THERE will be “no pacts, no deals, no understanding” with the SNP for supporting a Labour-led national unity government, John McDonnell has declared. On the eve of the SNP conference in Aberdeen, the shadow chancellor intervened again in the independence debate, this time to emphasise that Labour will not offer a second referendum in exchange for SNP support of a Jeremy Corbyn premiership. McDonnell stunned Scottish Labour colleagues in August by saying a Labour government should allow Holyrood to stage a second independence referendum if MSPs vote for one, contradicting party policy. Now, he has insisted he has given no signal to the SNP on an independence vote during current talks to form a no-deal alliance in the Commons that would see Corbyn installed as a caretaker Prime Minister. The SNP is backing the plan but the Lib Dems and rebel Tories are withholding support. McDonnell said that agreeing to an independence referendum would not be a priority for an incoming Labour government either. He said: “What we are saying is, we don’t think there should be another referendum, it is an absolute distraction when there is enough for us to deal with. “Our priority as a government will be ending austerity, investing in the economy and giving people a £10-an-hour real living wage. If, after those formative years, a mandate comes from the Scottish Parliament, we’re not going to stand in the way. But it’s certainly not our priority and we will argue that there’s no need for a referendum and, of course, in a referendum campaign, we would argue for maintenance of the Union.” McDonnell added that although relations with the Westminster SNP leader Ian Blackford were good, they were solely on the basis of preventing a no-deal Brexit.
He said: “Ian and I have a close working relationship on the basis of preventing a no deal, that is the exact limit of the relationship we have. Beyond that, we will go to the next election and into government with a majority.
“If we don’t get a majority government, there will be no pacts, no deals, no understandings with the SNP or anyone else. If they want to vote for our radical programme, that is up to them, but are
they really going to vote against the £10 living wage, to vote against ending austerity?”
McDonnell insisted his latest stance put in him “on the same page” as Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, who was left high and dry by the shadow chancellor’s acceptance of the principle of a second referendum when he spoke in Scotland in August.
McDonnell said: “I was asked a question at the Edinburgh Festival and I answered it honestly. Richard Leonard and myself are on the same page.
“We’ve made it clear what the position is, how we will go forward, the timescales and the nature of the request that may come in.”
In a significant move, McDonnell also confirmed that Corbyn aide Andrew Fisher will write the Labour manifesto that will detail the party’s stance on independence.
Fisher is credited with writing the radical 2017 Labour manifesto but quit the Labour leader’s office on the eve of the party conference last month citing the “lack of professionalism, competence and human decency” of some of those around the party boss.
Since then, Corbyn’s influential chief of staff, Karie Murphy, has been effectively demoted to a campaign role at party headquarters in a purge attributed to McDonnell.
The shadow chancellor said Fisher was likely to stay on with Labour. He said: “I think I’ve persuaded him to stay on, virtually.
“We’ve worked together for nearly 15 years and we’re not just colleagues, we are close friends.”
McDonnell, who was once a trainee priest, added: “As you know, I believe in the power of conversion. I think I’ll be able to convert him back.”
We’re saying there should not be another referendum JOHN McDONNELL ON LABOUR’S POSITION