Sturgeon says UK Labour to allow indyref2 in her 2020 timetable
● Referendum ‘not necessary’ – Corbyn ● FM to address Glasgow rally today
Nicola Sturgeon believes a second independence referendum will happen within her 2020 timetable, as she insisted that Jeremy Corbyn will approve it if he becomes prime minister.
The SNP leader, who will address a major pro-independence rally in Glasgow’s George Square today, made it clear she was ready to hand Mr Corbyn the keys to Downing Street in the event of a hung Parliament in exchange for the power to stage a repeat of the 2014 independence vote.
But Mr Corbyn last night sought to distance himself from the claims, insisting a second referendum is neither “desirable nor necessary”.
No formal pact or coalitions with Labour would be entered into after the election, Ms Sturgeon said, as she campaigned in Leith yesterday. But asked if she believes Labour would grant a section 30 order, transferring power to Holyrood for a referendum, Ms Sturgeon replied: “Yes.”
Mssturgeonsaidthatdespite meeting Mr Corbyn last week, the prospect of a section 30 order was not raised.
“The discussions I’ve had with Jeremy Corbyn in recent months have, I think understandably, been about Brexit and about the tactics in the House of Commons.
“I met with him – last week was the most recent occasion – that was very much about Brexit and the prospects as they were then of an election.
“I don’t think Jeremy Corbyn is under any illusions though about my position around independence, a referendum and the transfer of power.
“I’ve got many disagreements with Jeremy Corbyn, but UK Labour’s position seems to me to be a statement of democracy rather than a denial of democracy, which is the position of the Scottish Labour party.”
Ms Sturgeon is seeking to hold a referendum next year, but Mr Corbyn has indicated it won’t happen in the early years of a Labour government.
But Ms Sturgeon said: “If people in Scotland demonstrate the desire, as I believe they will in this election, for an independence referendum, then I don’t believe Westminster opposition to the principle or to the timetable for that will prove to be sustainable at all.
“Everybody knows there’s going to be an independence referendum – opposition parties might not yet have got round to conceding that in public. But everybody knows.”
Mr Corbyn said this week a referendum could happen at a “late stage” of a Labour government.
But he said in a statement last night: “Labour does not support independence for Scotland and we do not think another independence referendum is either desirable or necessary. We are running the most radical, people-focused election campaign the UK has ever seen and if we win, we will invest £70 billion in Scotland over the next decade.”