The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
SNP harming Scots with obsession, says Corbyn
Labour leader accuses Nationalists of meekly passing on Tory cuts
Jeremy Corbyn labelled the SNP a “disgrace” for obsessing over independence rather than shielding Scots from Tory cuts.
Speaking at a general election rally in Dunfermline, the Labour leader laid into the Nationalists for passing on Conservative austerity “without even a whimper”.
He was introduced by Cara Hilton, the former Labour MSP, who The Courier understands will shortly be unveiled as the party’s candidate for Dunfermline and West Fife.
The seat is one of Labour’s targets in Scotland, but they will have to overturn a large SNP majority of 18.5% to re-claim it.
Earlier, Mr Corbyn addressed the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Aviemore, where Nicola Sturgeon was also speaking.
The SNP leader accused Theresa May of calling the election early to avoid the possibility of criminal prosecutions over alleged expenses fraud affecting the Conservatives’ chances.
Mr Corbyn has previously angered Scottish Labour strategists by saying he would be “absolutely fine” with another independence referendum.
But he told supporters at the Carnegie Conference Centre last night that Scotland does not want “another unwanted and unnecessary referendum”.
“Many Scots rightly expect the Scottish Parliament to protect them from the vicious Tory Government,” he added.
“It is a disgrace that the SNP have not fought for these people and against poverty and inequality in the same way they have fought for independence.”
Ms Hilton lost her Dunfermline seat at Holyrood to the SNP’s Shirley-Anne Somerville last year.
She faces a major challenge in defeating the Nationalist incumbent for Westminster’s Dunfermline and West Fife, with Douglas Chapman enjoying a 10,352-vote cushion in 2015.
Ms Hilton admitted the general election will be the “fight of our lives”, but said Labour are the party to “reject the austerity agenda set by the Tories and passed on by the SNP”.
Mr Corbyn, who refused to take questions from the media at both events, was on his first visit to Scotland since the Prime Minister called the snap election.
It came on the back of a torrid weekend for Labour in Scotland.
A Survation opinion poll for our sister paper The Sunday Post predicted an alarming drop in Labour’s share of the vote in Scotland on June 8, along with the prospect of them coming fourth behind the Liberal Democrats.
A succession of Sunday newspaper polls also pointed to a Tory revival in Scotland, with the Conservatives winning up to 12 seats north of the border, from just one in 2015.
Meanwhile, Labour had to clarify its support for Trident renewal after Mr Corbyn, who is in favour of unilateral disarmament, said the party’s stance is still under discussion.
In her speech to the STUC, Ms Sturgeon said the election was called to “strengthen the grip of the Tory Party and crush dissent and opposition”.
In a remarkable accusation, she added Mrs May wanted to do so “before possible criminal prosecutions for alleged expenses fraud at the last election catches up with her”.
She added the Tory “misdemeanours” may have led to the party “buying the last general election”.
The CPS is considering whether to prosecute more than 30 individuals, including several Conservative MPs, over how election expenses were registered.
Last night, a Scottish Conservative source branded Ms Sturgeon’s claims “bizarre”, adding: “Coming from the party leader who had to suspend two of her MPs in the last two years, her allegations of wrong-doing sound very thin indeed.”
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ leader, said it “beggars belief” that the SNP and Labour leaders are not talking about Brexit.
“It is only the Liberal Democrats who won’t ignore the elephant in the room and stand firm in our beliefs,” he said.