Brown admits Yes campaign is ‘stronger than’ Unionism
GORDON Brown has admitted that the independence campaign is stronger than Unionism. The SNP leapt on his comments, saying the “damage Westminster has inflicted on Scotland is unforgivable”.
Keith Brown, the party’s deputy leader, said there was never a “positive argument for Scotland remaining under Westminster control”.
In a major intervention in the constitutional debate, the former Labour prime minister warned Unionists of the need for a “positive argument” if they wanted to keep the United Kingdom together.
It is a significant admission from Brown, who was instrumental in the Better Together campaign against independence in 2014 – which was sometimes dubbed “Project Fear” by the Yes side.
Ultimately Brown’s side won, but support for independence remains high in Scotland, with a number of polls giving it a lead over backing for the Union in recent months.
Brown also admitted that just because the SNP have “messed up” – in reference to their flagging polling performance – that did not mean independence was off the table.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said that “support for independence has remained exactly the same” despite the SNP’s dwindling fortunes.
He added: “You’ve got to put a positive argument. You can’t just say the SNP have failed, therefore independence is off the agenda.
“In the long run, the forces pulling Britain apart are greater than the forces holding it together, unless something is done about it.”
Brown’s comments are also significant as he is the author of a constitutional report commissioned by the Labour Party.
The report offered some new powers for Holyrood and the headline proposal of abolishing the House of Lords, the possibility of which the Labour leadership have played down. He also suggested giving councils more power.
Critics called the document “spectacularly underwhelming”. But he told the FT that to restore trust: “Government’s got to deliver ... I don’t think people realise just how much Westminster and Whitehall are regarded as almost alien by lots of people.”
Brown’s constitutional plan would “make Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Cardiff [and] Bristol centres of initiative”, according to the interview, but he opposes proportional representation, because it “give[s] support to extremists”.
And whether any or all of the plan will be adopted by Labour is unclear – though he admits to talking to shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves regularly.
Keith Brown said: “There has never been a positive argument for Scotland remaining under Westminster control and it seems that even Gordon Brown can now see that to be the case.
“During the 2014 independence referendum, the ‘No’ campaign was built on nothing more than scaremongering and, what we can now see to be, broken promises – and, since then, the damage Westminster has inflicted on Scotland is unforgivable.
“Westminster isn’t working for Scotland and there is no positive case for broken Brexit Britain – only the SNP and independence offers a better future for our country. Just like other comparable independent nations, Scotland has the resources, skills and people to be a successful country but the failing Westminster system is holding us back from reaching our potential.
“With the Tories and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party offering no meaningful change, the Westminster election is an opportunity for people to vote SNP to build a stronger, fairer, wealthier country where decisions about Scotland are taken in Scotland with independence.”