Keir Starmer has yet to meet with John Swinney following the SNP's victory at the Scottish election last month, amid worsening relations between Holyrood and Westminster.
The Prime Minister called the SNP leader on May 12 after the Nationalists were comfortably returned to power and agreed to a face-to-face meeting in June. However, Swinney's subsequent claim that Starmer had agreed to use the meeting to discuss a second referendum on Scottish independence was angrily denied by Downing Street as "untrue".
The SNP leader used the Holyrood election campaign to argue that only a Nationalist majority of MSPs could force the UK Government to agree to an IndyRef2, but his party fell eight seats short of a majority.
The First Minister today blamed "uncertainty" over Starmer's future for the delay in the meeting taking place. Speaking in Aberdeen, Swinney said: "I am obviously waiting to have that meeting with the Prime Minister, and the uncertainty about his position is perhaps influencing the ability to get that meeting arranged. But I want to make sure I have substantive dialogue with the UK Government to make sure that Scotland’s energy and wealth is in Scotland’s hands, and that Scotland has the ability to decide our own constitutional future. And that’s what parliament has asked me to do. It’s what the electorate asked me to do, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do."
A Downing Street spokesperson said: "It is categorically untrue that the Prime Minister and First Minister agreed to meet to discuss a referendum on independence. It is standard practice for the UK Prime Minister to meet with heads of devolved administrations and the same offer was made to leaders in Wales and Northern Ireland. While the First Minister may want to use this meeting to pursue an agenda, the position of the UK Government is unchanged. The Prime Minister offered a meeting to discuss shared issues including the cost of living and tackling child poverty. People need and want their governments focused on the issues that really matter – economic growth, the cost of living, and public services. Our focus must be on delivery, not division. As the PM told the First Minister, the manifesto this Government was elected on was unambiguous that we do not support independence or another referendum."
Swinney previously admitted relations between Holyrood and Westminster have nosedived in recent months. Asked by the Record last month if the relationship had worsened, Swinney said: "Yes, and I can trace it back to the appointment of Douglas Alexander as Secretary of State for Scotland. There were a number of things that the much-maligned Ian Murray was working on constructively with the Scottish Government, particularly with my deputy, Kate Forbes. Ian Murray was very helpful and argued for solutions that helped Scotland."
