SHADOW chancellor John McDonnell has said Scotland “doesn’t need independence” and added that neither the SNP nor the Tories want change.
He also said the ruling parties at Westminster and Holyrood “don’t want to talk about their record of failure”, claiming they would prefer to debate another referendum on independence.
McDonnell also said that Labour would “not enter into any pacts, coalitions or agreements with anyone” to win in the General Election on December 12. In the video, the shadow chancellor said: “Scotland cannot afford another day of the Tories, let alone another five years.
“Scotland does not need independence either. It needs a Labour Government.
“This election is crucial and you hold the balance of what country we wake up to on December 13.
“Boris Johnson can’t be trusted to fix our country and a vote for any other party will just let him back in.”
Earlier today, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said there had not been any discussions about a deal between the SNP and the Labour Party. The Prime Minister has previously accused the SNP and Labour of trying to forge a pact that would deliver a second independence referendum, something they denied.
He said he expected opposition parties to support a Labour Government without any electoral pacts in a bid to lock Boris Johnson and the Tories out of Number 10.
Leonard said it would be for the individual parties to back a Labour Queen’s Speech without expectation of concessions.
He said the SNP would “have to explain themselves to the people of Scotland” if they did not support a prospective Labour Government.
Previously, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Westminster leader Ian Blackford have said the Labour Party should not “bother picking up the phone” if they do not agree to another Scottish independence referendum.
The party’s manifesto launch last week was also used as a vehicle for the delivery of two other “red lines” – the scrapping of Trident and an increase of spending on the NHS in Scotland.
Leonard said: “We’ve been absolutely clear that there’s no place for any deal, any coalition agreement or any electoral pact. Ten days out from the election, that remains our goal. I see no reason why we couldn’t achieve that.”
He added: “If we were to be in a situation where there was a minority Labour Government that was dependent on support from other parties to get through our policy programme which would be contained in a Labour Queen’s Speech, we would expect those other parties to vote for it.
“In the case of the SNP, I would expect them to vote for a Labour Government Queen’s Speech.
“I would have thought they would support that.”
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