Labour denies Black’s claim that Corbyn was a secret supporter of independence

● MP says she felt ‘let down’ by party leader’s stance

A high-profile SNP MP has claimed that Jeremy Corbyn is personally sympathetic to Scottish independence.

Mhairi Black, who represents Paisley and Renfrewshire South at Westminster, said she felt “let down” by the UK Labour leader, claiming he had “sold his soul over independence”.

Inaninterviewwiththehuffington Post, Ms Black said that by “talking to him [Corbyn]” she knew he did not accept Labour’s policy of supporting the Union between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

She did not reveal where or when the conversation with Mr Corbyn took place.

A Labour party spokesman dismissed the claims and described them as “complete nonsense”.

Senior sources close to Mr Corbyn accused the Nationalist of lying over the claims.

“This is categorically untrue,” they told the Red Robin, a pro-labour blog. “It just didn’t happen. It is a desperate lie and untruth”.

Ms Black said in the interview: “I’m raging at Jeremy.

“He has totally sold his soul, especially in terms of Scotland.”

She continued: “It really annoys me when people get credit when the reality is different.

“I was excited by Jeremy Corbyn for the same reason as all the Labour membership were, but since he has got into that position of power, what’s he done?

“He has had unelected lords in his cabinet. He’s had scandal upon scandal, and don’t

0 Jeremy Corbyn rejected independence last year ‘because we say that if we all stand together things can and will change’ independence as it would be “catastrophic” for Scots by causing “turbo-charged austerity”.

In a speech in Glasgow ahead of last year’s general election, he said his vision as the Labour Party’s leader rejected Scottish independence “because we say that if we all stand together things can and will change”.

But some within Mr Corbyn’s own party have questioned the strength of his commitment to the Union.

One Scottish Labour source told The Scotsman: “I find it hard to be believe he would be naive enough to say so to Mhairi Black, but is it plausible? Of course it is.

“He didn’t lift a finger during theindependencereferendum campaign. He’s surrounded by people who hold those sorts of views.

“The problem isn’t so much whether it’s true or not - it’s that Scottish voters already don’t trust Jeremy Corbyn to protect the Union.”

Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tom- kins said: “This is yet more confirmation that Labour isn’t just soft on the independence issue, it doesn’t even care.

“From Jeremy Corbyn to Kezia Dugdale, it’s clear the party is willing to sell out the two million people who voted No in 2014.

“Labour leaders on both side of the border paid unconvincing lip service to the importance of the union, yet behind the scenes would vote Yes in a heartbeat.”