Downing Street has denied the PM is about to capitulate and offer the SNP a second vote but the Nats have a different interpretation
John Swinney, left, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of capitulating to John Swinney after the FM claimed he had agreed to meet to discuss the possibility of a second independence referendum. The under pressure prime minister is understood to have phoned the SNP leader to congratulate him on the Nats’ election victory last week.
Mr Swinney had said an SNP majority was required for talks to start on a second vote. However, the SNP lost seats and, despite its victory, came up well short of the numbers required.
It has forced the SNP to backtrack and use Scottish Green seats to justify their fresh push to break up Britain, although that has been severely undermined by the fact the hard-left party did not include a referendum in its manifesto. The news comes as Sir Keir fights for his job, with Scottish MP Zubir Ahmed the latest minister to quit his role.
A spokesman for Mr Swinney insisted that Sir Keir “agreed to meet next month to discuss a referendum on independence”. For its part, Downing Street says it does not recognise that interpretation of the call.
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Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “Even by Sir Keir Starmer’s dismal standards this is an extraordinary capitulation to John Swinney. We warned during the election campaign that if Swinney achieved his self-imposed ‘mandate’ of an SNP majority, Starmer would be likely to surrender to his referendum demands.
“But for Starmer to entertain talks on the subject when the Nationalists haven’t even met their own target is downright foolish and reckless. If he wasn’t so weak, Starmer would have sent Swinney packing and told him to get on with the day job.
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay(Image: PA)
“Labour and Reform, who have a pro-independence MSP in their ranks, naively pander to the nationalist obsession of breaking up the UK. Only the Scottish Conservatives can be trusted to stand up for Scotland’s place in the Union.”
Number 10 insisted it was Labour policy to oppose another referendum. A spokesman said Sir Keir merely “committed to meeting to discussed shared issues including the cost of living”. He added: “As the PM told the First Minister, the manifesto this government was elected on was unambiguous that ‘Labour does not support independence or another referendum’. Our position remains unchanged.”
Mr Swinney’s spokesman said: “Given the SNP’s landslide victory and the fact that the people of Scotland have elected more pro-independence MSPs than at any point in the Parliament’s history, the previous refusal of the UK Government to consider Scotland’s right to decide its own future was clearly unsustainable. A way forward must be found and so these discussions are welcome.
“Coming alongside Labour MSPs making clear that there must be a way for this question to be resolved, it is now very clear that the momentum is building behind Scotland’s right to decide.”