Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been accused of trying to shut down democratic debate over constitutional change following comments on Scottish independence and Irish reunification.
The SNP launched its attack after Burnham visited Belfast and reportedly said discussion of a democratic route towards Irish reunification was “off the table”.
The party drew a direct comparison with Burnham’s first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, when it says he described the prospect of Scottish independence as “off limits”.
The row comes after a Survation poll for the Diffley Partnership found 52 per cent support for independence once undecided voters were excluded.
The SNP has seized on Burnham’s interventions to argue that decisions about Scotland’s constitutional future cannot simply be ruled out by whoever occupies Downing Street.
SNP Chief Whip Kirsty Blackman MP said:
“In his first visit to Scotland Andy Burnham told the Scottish people that independence was ‘off limits’, now he flies into Ireland and tells people that Irish unity is ‘off the table’.
“For all his early ‘vibes’ about supposedly doing politics differently, he is doing a very good job at displaying the exact same anti-democratic arrogance of every single Westminster Prime Minister who came before him.
“It is alarming that the new Prime Minister clearly doesn’t understand the Good Friday Agreement and its mechanisms, that international agreement isn’t his ‘table’ and he has no right to solely dictate what is or isn’t on it.
“Here in Scotland, people elected a record number of pro-independence MSPs in May and only yesterday we had yet another poll showing that people are fed up with the failed Westminster system which does not work for Scotland.
‘A growing majority want independence and Andy Burnham doesn’t get to block or veto the democratic rights of our people.
“There are now First Ministers in every corner of these islands who reject Westminster and support independence.
“Instead of lecturing people about what they can and can’t democratically decide, it’s time Andy Burnham woke up to the reality that the failed UK status quo is coming to an end.”
