Scottish Labour now facing its very own war of independence
LABOUR is facing a new civil war in Scotland over whether it should back independence.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale opened the door to her party dropping its opposition to independence in the future, saying she would ‘consider all options’.
A series of senior party figures also raised the prospect of the party backing independence, following its humiliation in the Westminster and Holyrood elections in the aftermath of the 2014 referendum.
But others, including Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, said the party must continue to back the Union.
After a meeting of the Scottish Labour Executive yesterday, Miss Dugdale reasserted her current support for the UK and EU – but signalled that the party may be allowed to vote on whether to back independence in the future.
She said: ‘Labour is Scotland’s internationalist party. We believe in the pooling and sharing of
‘The nightmare is worse than ever’
resources and sovereignty. We believe in the redistribution of wealth and power, and we believe that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we ever could alone.
‘Those are the values which underpin our support for the European Union and the Union of nations across the United Kingdom.
‘As a party, we will now go forward driven by those enduring values and apply them to our duty to do the best thing for Scotland and the interests of working people within it. On that basis, we will consider all options and do so in a democratic fashion in keeping with our party’s finest traditions.’
She also attacked the Tories, saying they have ‘put the United Kingdom in danger’ since the 2014 referendum.
Former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish said he is ‘very attracted’ to the idea of Scotland leaving the UK in order to remain a member of the EU. He said: ‘We have now got to a point that has changed the whole dynamic of Scotland and the Union.
‘Scotland’s choice now is, does it want to be part of the UK out of Europe, or does it want to be out of the UK and a part of the EU? I am very, very attracted to the notion that we be part of the EU.’
Another former First Minister, Jack McConnell, yesterday called for a period of ‘soul-searching’.
Malcolm Chisholm also claimed independence is now ‘inevitable’ and is the only way of remaining in the EU.
In the immediate aftermath of the Brexit result, the former communities minister said: ‘The nightmare is worse than ever. I think this will go down as the day when Scottish independence became inevitable.’
Yesterday, he said: ‘I’ve always hitherto supported far more devolution, but it’s hard to see how we can stay in the EU without independence. Impossible, in fact.’
While support for Scotland’s place in the UK has appeared to remain strong among both Labour’s elected politicians and membership, some key figures believe the party’s coalition with the Tories in the Better Together campaign is to blame for its disastrous election results north of the Border since the referendum.
It is also estimated that around one in three of Labour voters backed independence in 2014 – and many of them have deserted the party since then.
But several key figures believe its future would be in risk if it dropped its backing for the Union.
Mr Murray said an independence referendum would be the ‘worst thing’ for Scotland at the moment.
The Edinburgh Southern MP said: ‘How can we justify the first act post EU referendum debate being to turn our political discourse into being consumed by another Scottish independence referendum when the economic case is as bad as it has ever been? The UK leaving the EU makes the case, in economic and political terms, all the more difficult in terms of Scotland leaving the UK.’
And former Labour MP Tom Harris, who led the Scottish Vote Leave campaign, said: ‘If the Scottish Labour Party has any sense, and I’m not saying it does, it would oppose in any form any new independence referendum.
‘It is already losing votes among Unionist voters in Scotland and it is not going to pick up any Scottish Nationalist voters.’