Labour leadership hopefuls Michael Marra and Joe Fagan are being challenged to rule out any electoral agreement with Reform UK or the Conservatives aimed at defeating the SNP.
The demand follows reports that figures within Labour are considering whether a unionist electoral pact could involve candidates standing aside in selected constituencies.
The suggestion has prompted the SNP to draw comparisons with the Better Together campaign which brought Labour and the Conservatives together against Scottish independence during the 2014 referendum.
A Labour source quoted by The Sun said: “It could be that a unionist ticket is the way forward. It would mean playing the SNP at their own game.”
No agreement between Labour, Reform UK and the Conservatives has been announced, and the reported discussions do not establish that any electoral pact will ultimately be pursued.
The SNP is now attempting to put the issue directly into the Labour leadership contest by demanding clear positions from both Michael Marra and Joe Fagan.
It wants both candidates to explicitly reject formal or informal arrangements involving Reform UK or the Conservatives.
SNP MSP Alex Kerr said:
“People within the Labour Party are openly calling on Michael Marra or Joe Fagan to re-form Better Together with a new band mate, Nigel Farage.
“Both Michael Marra and Joe Fagan must explicitly rule out any formal or informal pacts with Reform or the Tories which would seek to block Scots their right to choose their own future.
“Brexit Britain is broken and Westminster will never work for the people of Scotland.
“After year upon year of Westminster austerity cuts, Brexit and the soaring cost of living in the UK, people are desperate for a better future beyond Westminster control.
“Independence in the EU offers us that future while Better Together 2.0 is more of the same Westminster system with Nigel Farage at the helm, a fresh start of independence is the only way that energy-rich Scotland can build the better future and stronger economy that we need.”
The intervention comes a day after nationalist leaders met in Cardiff and signed a memorandum committing the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein to closer political cooperation.
The Scottish and Welsh Governments also signed a separate agreement establishing closer working between the two administrations.
The reported possibility of cooperation between unionist parties has subsequently provided the SNP with its own political opportunity.
Rather than waiting to see whether discussions develop into a concrete proposal, it is now asking the two Labour leadership contenders to make their positions clear.
That puts Marra and Fagan in the position of either ruling out such cooperation or facing further questions over whether Labour could ultimately share an electoral platform with the Conservatives and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
