Scottish Labour leader may support second Brexit vote...but never another Scots independence referendum
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said he wouldn’t rule out backing a second “People’s Vote” on Brexit – but would say no to another vote on Scottish independence.
The idea of holding a second vote on Brexit is one of the options being considered by Labour in the event of Theresa May failing to win the approval of MPs for her deal. He said:
“There are lots of people in the Remain camp – and I am a Remainer – who think a People’s Vote would overturn the 2016 decision. I am not sure that is the case.”
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said last week if the government’s Brexit deal was rejected by MPs in parliament next month, May should return to
Brussels to seek concessions. If that failed again, he said Labour should be given the chance to form a government – and if denied, would press for a General
Election. But if neither of those options worked, it would support a second referendum.
However, Leonard said it would be an “absolute no” to a
second Scottish referendum if Labour won power at Westminster.
He said: “The vast majority believe there was a decisive result to the Scottish
independence referendum, so why do we need another?”
Keith Brown, depute leader of the SNP, said it was “gross hypocrisy” from Scottish Labour.
He said: “He is tying himself in knots trying to justify one referendum while opposing another.”
Football manager Unai Emery has revealed his secret to learning English – the Arsenal boss watches Peaky Blinders.
The Spaniard replaced Arsene Wenger at the Emirates Stadium in the summer and has undergone intensive courses to improve his English.
Emery, 47, has spoken in English at all of his press conferences since being appointed and has clearly become more comfortable in recent weeks.
The former Paris St Germain boss spends much of his downtime watching football – but admits he has developed another viewing habit.
Emery admits he will relax in front of a box set of the Birmingham-based crime drama and that it is also working as a learning aid.
“Now I am watching English series to improve my English. Peaky Blinders. It is good but it is difficult (to understand), from Birmingham. And it’s very aggressive. But it’s good, it’s good.”
Peaky Blinders is set in the years following World War One and follows the exploits of the Shelby crime family. The show’s fifth series begins next year.
He says he doesn’t think he is obsessed by football, adding: “Football is my passion. “It’s my work, but I don’t think every day that it is my work, it’s my best hobby.”