Leonard told to lead for new vote
RICHARD LEONARD needs to be more like Nicola Sturgeon and show “strong leadership” by backing a second Brexit referendum, a prominent Labour peer has said.
Lord Adonis said the Scottish Labour leader had a “phenomenal opportunity” to put pressure on the UK Government, but also the Labour leadership in London.
The arch Remainer also told the BBC’S Sunday Politics Scotland there should be more cooperation between Labour and the SNP to help create a “popular front” against Brexit.
With many Labour MPS holding pro-brexit seats, Jeremy Corbyn has been highly reluctant to embrace a second vote on leaving the EU.
However last month, the Labour Conference voted to keep the option open if there was no early election caused by a Brexit impasse.
A week later, the First Minister also swung behind a People’s Vote on the outcome of the EU-UK negotiations, saying SNP MPS would vote for it in the Commons.
However Lord Adonis, a Labour minister from 2005 to 2010, said Mr Leonard wasn’t doing enough, and suggested it was because he was in lockstep with Mr Corbyn.
He said: “I wouldn’t see it as breaking ranks. I would see it as leading. The job of leaders is to lead. Like Jeremy, he is on a journey at the moment. He’s waiting to see what happens with the deal, and what’s going to happen in the House of Commons with the deal.
“My view is that he should lead [by saying Scottish Labour wants another referendum].”
He added pointedly: “Nicola Sturgeon has done the right thing, and given very strong leadership towards a People’s Vote.”
Asked if Mr Leonard should be more like the First Minister, Lord Adonis said: “What I want to see is a [cross-party] popular front. The whole future of Scotland is at stake.”
SNP MP Peter Grant said: “The Labour
Party are still in total disarray when it comes to their policy on Brexit.
“It’s no wonder they cannot be taken seriously as a credible opposition to the Tories when their wake-up calls come from unelected politicians from their own party in the House of Lords – but a lack of leadership from Richard Leonard comes as no surprise to anyone.”
Scottish Libdem MSP Tavish Scott said: “A sizeable majority of Labour supporters in Scotland don’t agree with the party’s pro-brexit policy. Polls show they back a vote on the deal and want to stay in the EU.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “If MPS can’t agree on whatever deal the Prime
Minister comes back with, then we must have an immediate general election. Given the mess the Tories are making this is the vote our country urgently needs.
“If there isn’t a general election, our position is that all options should remain on the table, including campaigning for a public vote.”
Meanwhile, a Scottish Labour veteran has warned Mr Leonard’s point-blank opposition to a second independence referendum is undemocratic and “electorally disastrous”.
Former treasurer Bob Thomson said the current leader’s refusal to countenance another vote, regardless of the public mood, could lead to Labour lining up with the Tories.
Writing in the forthcoming Scottish Left Review, Mr Thomson said it went against the 1989 Claim Of Right, backed by Labour, that it was the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine their own form of government.
He said: “If the Tories win the next general election but are again rejected in Scotland, the clamour for a second referendum will become unstoppable. If Labour was then to oppose a referendum at Holyrood and Westminster, it would be an electoral disaster in Scotland worse than the 2015 General Election and the 2016 Scottish election.” Scottish Labour declined to comment on Mr Thomson’s article.