An SNP cabinet secretary has said Andy Burnham's claims of offering further devolution are “unravelling”, after reports that he has ruled out any possibility of a second Scottish independence referendum.
Burnham's reported stance on indyref2
The Labour MP, who is widely expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister in a matter of weeks, reportedly told Scottish Labour MPs last week that he would not consider giving the SNP another independence referendum. The Mail On Sunday reported sources from the meeting as saying that the former Manchester mayor was firm in his opposition to another vote on the constitutional question, despite backing further devolution.
During a speech in June, Mr Burnham said people in Dundee and Bangor “feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster”. John Swinney rejected these comments, and the First Minister has also said he does not agree with the idea of creating elected mayors in Scotland.
SNP response
Ivan McKee, the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform in Mr Swinney's government, was asked about the report when he spoke to the Sunday Show on BBC Radio Scotland. He said: “I think the Burnham project is unravelling very quickly with regards to all these fine words about devolution and devolving powers. When he can't even devolve the power to the people of Scotland to decide on their constitutional future, and he's not even in office yet. So I think it's more of the same-old, same-old from the UK government.”
Earlier, Mr McKee had been asked about devolution within Scotland, with the cabinet secretary saying he was committed to giving regional economic partnerships more legal authority. He also said the government is examining local governance in Scotland under a review called Democracy Matters.
Reactions from other parties
SNP MSP David Linden also hit out at Mr Burnham's reported comments. He said: “Andy Burnham has promised to break with the past and he must be true to that – Scotland voted for a referendum, Scotland voted for more powers to be in our hands. Those promises must be met.”
The Scottish Green Party also called on Andy Burnham to avoid any veto on a second independence vote. Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: “Scotland has just elected the largest pro-independence majority in the history of our Parliament. If that's not a mandate, what is? It's a simple question and one that no Labour leader has been able to answer. Andy Burnham is perfectly entitled to argue against Scottish independence. What he shouldn't do is block the people of Scotland from having the choice.”
Labour response
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie accused the SNP of trying to manufacture a constitutional argument. She said: “Once again the SNP wants to talk about anything but its own record in government. Instead of trying to manufacture constitutional rows, the SNP should focus on using the powers it has to fix our NHS, improve our schools and make life more affordable.”
