The SNP has challenged the two candidates vying to become the next leader of Scottish Labour to spell out how a second referendum on independence can be achieved.
Party members have one week left to vote for either Michael Marra or Joe Fagan to take charge following the resignation of Anas Sarwar in July. The new Scottish Labour leader will be unveiled on September 19 and will likely face immediate pressure from the Nationalists over the UK Government's repeated refusals to sanction an IndyRef2.
PM's intervention
It comes after Andy Burnham yesterday told the House of Commons there would be no vote on the constitution until it's "clear" a majority of Scots want one. The PM had previously told John Swinney that a second referendum remains "off limits".
Burnham was asked at PMQs about the position of Northern Ireland, where a border poll can be triggered if the Secretary of State believes a majority of people would vote for Irish unification. SNP MP Chris Law said voters in Scotland should have the "equal right to choose their own future" as those in the province.
Burnham responded: "I would say exactly the same situation in Scotland. I am not aware that there is a majority of public support for another referendum and until that changes there won’t be one."
Candidates' positions
The comments were seized on by the SNP who called for Fagan and Marra to spell out whether they agreed. Nationalist MSP David Linden said: "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?
"The pair want to lead the Labour Party in Scotland, but their answers have so far been laughable. Senior Labour Party politicians are breaking ranks or tripping over themselves trying to explain their thought process on such a simple concept - what is the mechanism for the Scottish people’s voice to be heard?
"There are First Ministers across these islands that support constitutional change, but the Labour Party in Scotland do not believe the Scottish people has the ride to decide our own future. It is absurd. The people of Scotland will democratically decide our own future and unless the leadership of the Labour Party respects that basic democratic principle - the deeper their difficulties will become."
Fagan previously told the Record he would never back an IndyRef2 if he wins the leadership this month. The South Scotland MSP also said he would not support a cross-party agreement to produce a route map for a second referendum.
Speaking to the Record, Fagan was asked if there are any circumstances in which he as party leader would support indyref2. "No," he said. He added: "The question I think you are really asking is are there circumstances in which another independence referendum is legitimate? That is up for the people who are proponents of independence and a referendum to set out their case."
Marra previously echoed Burnham's position and claimed "here has to be sustained clear majority in favour" of a referendum before one can take place.
Speaking at a radio debate, the MSP was asked how voters move to independence. Marra said: "Well, they [the SNP] have to generate the settled will of the Scottish people and that will become an inevitability at that point if it becomes such." He added: "I think you measure it in a variety of ways. I suppose you would look at opinion polls. You would look at election results. There are mechanisms and ways."
