Scottish Labour leadership candidates Michael Marra and Joe Fagan have been challenged to set out how they believe Scotland could democratically secure another independence referendum.
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown made the call following renewed debate over Scotland’s constitutional future and recent comments from Prime Minister Andy Burnham about the circumstances in which another vote could be considered.
Burnham told the House of Commons last week that a border poll in Northern Ireland would be considered when there was a clear consensus and public opinion had changed sufficiently for the question to be considered.
He then said he would apply “exactly the same situation in Scotland”, although Downing Street subsequently insisted Labour’s position against another independence referendum had not changed.
The legal positions are different because the mechanism for a Northern Ireland border poll is established in the Northern Ireland Act 1998, while no equivalent statutory mechanism exists for another Scottish independence referendum.
The exchange has nevertheless prompted further questions about what political or electoral circumstances would be required for Westminster to agree to another Scottish vote.
The SNP has now turned that question towards Marra and Fagan as they compete for the Scottish Labour leadership.
Brown’s intervention follows an interview with Bernard Ponsonby in which both candidates were questioned about the circumstances that could lead to another referendum.
Fagan cautioned against “over-intellectualising” the issue, while Marra referred to establishing the “settled will of the Scottish people”.
Brown said:
“The door to Scotland’s independence has been kicked wide open and it is for all political parties to engage and provide the Scottish public with a clear understanding of their position.
“Michael Marra and Joe Fagan have so far failed to answer a very basic question, how do the Scottish people exercise our democratic right to decide our own future?
“As we saw in Wales this week, there are First Ministers across these islands that support constitutional change, three of the four nations on these islands are led by pro-independence First Ministers.
“Westminster’s time is coming to an end.
“The question of this parliament is how and when the people of Scotland choose to leave Westminster behind, Joe Fagan and Michael Marra can engage with that reality and, like Andy Burnham, recognise it is for the people of Scotland to decide how they can democratically choose to be an independent nation in the EU.”
The latest intervention comes after the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland met in Cardiff on Monday, where constitutional change formed part of a wider discussion about cooperation between the devolved nations.
For Scottish Labour’s next leader, the question is not simply whether they support independence, which Labour opposes, but what democratic test they believe would have to be met before another referendum could take place.
Burnham’s comments have ensured that question is unlikely to disappear from Scotland’s political debate any time soon.
