Labour to thrash out indy stance
SCOTTISH Labour will hold crunch talks tonight about the party’s stance on a second independence referendum.
It comes after senior politicians called for the party to water down its opposition to a rerun of the 2014 vote on separation.
But yesterday some MSPs hit back and condemned ‘rash pronouncements’ on the issue.
The warring factions will discuss the matter when Labour MSPs meet at Holyrood.
Top of the agenda will be what position the party will take on Thursday, when the SNP’s Referendum Bill faces its final vote at Holyrood.
Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour health spokesman, said at the weekend Boris Johnson should allow the Scottish parliament to decide if there will be another referendum, as ‘the future of Scotland must be decided by the people of Scotland’.
But the party’s former deputy leader Anas Sarwar hit back yesterday. Writing on social media, he said: ‘I see some “key figures” in Scottish Labour are jumping to join the false choice of Boris’s Britain vs Sturgeon’s Scotland. This does nothing to reject the divisive visions of both and hold together those that believe in the principles of unity, solidarity, equality and redistribution.
‘Our members are heartbroken by the result... and are feeling angry that our party has let down the millions of people that needed a credible and electable Labour Party in Government. Rather than making rash pronouncements on Indyref 2, I think we need a genuine period of reflection and some humility from those who led us to our worst EU election result and worst General Election result in living memory.’
Daniel Johnson, Labour MSP for Edinburgh Southern, said it was a ‘mistake’ to allow the SNP to use the General Election as a mandate for another referendum. He added: ‘2021 is the test and a majority at a Holyrood election is the precedent.’
Labour sources said there was ‘a lot of anger’ within the party about Miss Lennon’s comments, with some believing she has ‘undermined’ leader Richard Leonard. As Labour previously opposed the Referendum Bill, they said Miss Lennon faces having to vote against the party this week, adding: ‘Unless Richard now changes that position and faces a full-scale group revolt, he should sack Monica from the shadow cabinet on Thursday.’
Mr Leonard issued a statement on Sunday pledging that a ‘swift evidence-based review’ of the election campaign will help the party ‘chart our way forward’. He also said Labour must engage with the public and establish why people do not vote for them any more.
Lesley Laird, who lost her Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat to Neale Hanvey, despite him being suspended by the SNP over anti-Semitic comments, yesterday stepped down as deputy leader of Scottish Labour.
In a message to the warring factions, she said: ‘I would urge a period of calm reflection and some kindness towards each other. Because if we are to convince people of our values and principles then first we must demonstrate them in our behaviour and actions towards each other.’
‘Heartbroken by the result’