A TACTICAL voting guide has been blasted by critics as having a pro-Labour bias.
Think tank Best for Britain launched a tactical voting guide on Monday which urged voters in SNP constituencies across Scotland to vote Labour – despite the organisation saying it wanted more “pro-European” MPs in Westminster.
Labour have said they'll never seek to take the UK back into the EU, while the SNP are explicitly in favour of an independent Scotland in the bloc.
The voting guide, which has the stated aims of getting the Conservatives out and increasing pro-EU sentiment in Parliament, urges voters in many SNP seats to back Labour.
It urges Scots to back Labour in 28 seats across the country – most currently held by the SNP.
In some held by the SNP, such as Westminster leader Stephen Flynn’s (above) Aberdeen South seat, people are urged to “vote with your heart”.
While the voting guide urges voters in Edinburgh to back Labour, with the exception of the LibDem seat Edinburgh West, people in shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray’s (below) seat which has been Labour since 1987 are also told to “vote with your heart”.
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Voters are urged to vote SNP in seats currently held or nominally held by the Tories, except for East Kilbride, where they are told to vote Labour.
In Bathgate and Linlithgow, voters are told to back Labour, despite the party coming a distant third place in the 2019 election under slightly different boundaries.
The guide drew criticism on Twitter/X, with Glasgow South Greens candidate Niall Christie saying its description that no parties were “fighting hard here” was “insulting”. He added: “Vote for your futures, don’t vote in another right-wing government with Labour.”
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Another user saying it was a “Fundamentally flawed tool as it favours Labour in Scottish constituencies where SNP are the clear anti-Tory favourites”.
One user added: “Convenient for England have absolutely disgraced themselves here. Vote tactically not to get the Tories out but to get their chosen ones in. I've rarely been this disappointed or felt more stupid for giving complete charlatans the time of day.”
Others said the firm’s decision to back Labour despite the SNP being better placed to beat the Tories in many seats in Scotland was a “political choice rather than a tactical choice”.
A spokesperson for Best for Britain said: “Since our foundation, Best for Britain has campaigned for closer EU-UK ties and the next UK Government will have the unprecedented opportunity, and unenviable responsibility, to rebuild UK-EU relations after over a decade of Eurosceptic Conservative misrule.
“As the most pro-European nation in the UK, we want the Scottish electorate to be heard both on opposition and government benches should Labour win the next election. We want people within the next government and outside it pushing for improvements to the Tories’ damaging Brexit deal.
“That is why, based on the most up-to-date MRP polling, constituency level insights and expert analysis, we recommend people vote Labour, SNP and LibDem in Scotland and are also advising people to vote Green in three other constituencies in England.”
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