BRITAIN DECIDES 31 DAYS TO GO
Scottish Labour leader says PM
Richard Leonard yesterday told independence supporters not to expect a second referendum any time soon under a Labour government. The Scottish Labour leader spoke out the day after Nicola Sturgeon made a rerun of the independence poll a condition of her support for Jeremy Corbyn’s government in the event of a hung parliament.
Mr Leonard said there would be no referendum in the “formative years” of a Labour government at Westminster and insisted that tackling austerity would reduce support for independence.
Labour’s position on Scottish independence will be confirmed after a so-called “clause five” meeting, which will draw up the party’s manifesto, next Saturday. Mr Leonard, who has led his party for two years, said: “We have said we oppose independence and therefore oppose a second independence referendum, which we think is both undesirable and unnecessary.
“The formative years of a Labour government will be occupied with sorting out the Brexit chaos, the reversal of austerity and the need to invest in infrastructure and public services, giving people a decent increase in their living standards and getting the country ready for the changes we need to make to meet our climate change obligations.
“They’ll be the priorities of a Labour government.”
Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday the price of co- operating with Labour was an independence referendum.
But Mr Leonard said if Labour won the most seats in the General Election on December 12 but not an overall majority, it would form a minority government with “no deals, no pacts, no coalitions” with any other party. Labour would then set out its policies in a Queen’s Speech.
“It would be up to the SNP to decide if they want to vote for it, and if they do not vote for it, potentially it could bring down that government.
“They would then have to explain to the people of Scotland why they haven’t supported a Queen’s Speech that is intended to spend £70 billion of new public expenditure on housing, the NHS and our industrial base.” Scotland voted against independence by 55% to 45% in 2014, but recent opinion polls suggested that support for Scottish self- rule has increased to around 50%. But Mr Leonard said: “It is my belief that the election of a radical, transformative Labour government will eclipse the case for the creation of a separate Scottish state.
“I think when people see the benefits of a Labour government which is redistributing power and wealth around the country, the appetite for independence will diminish.”
He added: “We think the election of a Labour government in 2019 at