Election ‘isn’t about independence’
THE debate over Scotland’s place in the UK ‘isn’t an issue for this election’, a Labour politician has said.
Shadow Scotland Office minister Paul Sweeney said questions about an independence referendum should be debated in the Holyrood election in 2021, not during the present campaign. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the issue is ‘central’ to her campaign.
Mr Sweeney also said he believes no UK Government should stand in the way of a rerun of the 2014 vote if the SNP secures a ‘mandate’ in the next Scottish parliament elections.
When asked if he would be comfortable serving in a Labour government which had granted the Section 30 order needed to hold another referendum, Mr Sweeney said: ‘Labour is going to be focused on delivering its domestic programme.
‘That will restore faith in our communities, it will deal with the economic and social problems that people have to deal with in their everyday lives, not obsessing about nationalism and national borders.
‘The reality is this isn’t an issue for this election. The reality is this is an issue for the Scottish parliament election in 2021. We’ve been clear that if a mandate were to happen, then no government in the UK could stand against that.’
Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson last week ruled out supporting an independence referendum, even if the SNP wins a majority in the next Holyrood vote.
Jeremy Corbyn, who will visit Scotland later this week, has refused to rule out granting another referendum but said it should not take place in the ‘formative’ years of a Labour government.
Responding to Mr Sweeney’s comments, a Tory source said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon is going to use any vote she gets to try to claim a mandate behind a second independence referendum, which she will demand the right to hold before Christmas. To say this election is not about independence is head in the sand stuff – he is like a human ostrich.’