Lennon calls for ‘radical change’ in Scottish Labour
THE SNP “reek of entitlement” and have been taking people for granted for a very long time, argues Scottish Labour leadership contender Monica Lennon.
Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, she accused the SNP of wasting years in power, with a huge gap between its rhetoric and its record.
Lennon said she wants Scottish Labour to show it is passionate about “radical change”, favouring neither independence nor the “status quo union that the Tories believe in”. She reiterated her argument that it is for the people of Scotland to decide if there should be another referendum, not Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Lennon has said pro-independence parties would have a mandate for another vote if they win a majority at the Holyrood election in May.
This puts her at odds with her leadership rival Anas Sarwar, who has made clear he will oppose a second referendum in the next parliamentary term.
If there is a referendum, Lennon said she will fight “tooth and nail” for a multi-question ballot and then campaign for a federal option.
She said: “I don’t believe in independence. It worries me, the damage it would do to our economy and the impact it would have on the people who are already struggling the most, the people who are living in poverty.
“But I’m also a democratic socialist and when I’m asked, ‘If people in Scotland say they want a referendum and people in Scotland express that at the ballot box, what is your response?’, my response is that it is for the people of Scotland to decide.
“It shouldn’t be up to Boris Johnson or any other Prime Minister to say no to that.
“And I think it would be wrong, it would be a disaster for Scottish Labour to hide behind Boris Johnson and take the same response as him, which is not democratic.”
Lennon added: “If there is going to be a referendum, then I would fight tooth and nail for that to be a multi-question referendum.
“We shouldn’t go back to the binary, divisive argument of 2014, and that’s what happened when Scottish Labour just left it to the SNP and the Tories to decide what the question should be.”
Lennon said there is space for a grass-roots campaign to make the case for “enhanced devolution” now.
The 40-year-old has served as an MSP for the Central Scotland region since 2016 and was previously a councillor and planning officer.
She recently hit the headlines after driving forward legislative change that led to Scotland becoming the first country in the world to introduce free universal access to period products.