SCOTTISH Labour grandees Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have written to nearly 100,000 Scots in marginal seats across Scotland urging them to defeat the SNP.
In his letter Brown says Nicola Sturgeon “should focus on the day job of running our schools and hospitals, and forget about her obsession with another divisive independence referendum”.
The SNP called the letters dreary, and pointed out that while both letters mentioned Sturgeon, neither mentioned Jeremy Corbyn.
Brown and Darling’s party say the letters have been sent to voters in marginal seats “where only Labour can defeat the SNP”.
Those constituencies are understood to include Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, Midlothian, East Lothian, and Brown’s old constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.
The former Labour leader was first elected to the seat in 1983, when it was known as Dunfermline East. In 2010 he was returned with a huge majority of 23,009.
Five years later and the seat was won by the SNP’s Roger Mullin, who took more than 50 per cent of the vote, giving him a majority of 9974.
Brown has written to his former constituents asking them to help “send Nicola Sturgeon a message” .
“The SNP has been in government for more than ten years, but is so obsessed with independence that our cherished public services are deteriorating.
“I was proud to play my part in the campaign to remain in the UK. It is time for the SNP to use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to improve standards in our schools and hospitals, rather than taking us back to the arguments of the past.
“No matter which party you normally vote for, it’s only a vote for your Scottish Labour candidate that can stop the SNP here. A vote for the Conservatives, or any other party, won’t stop another divisive referendum. It will only help the SNP win here and allow Nicola Sturgeon to use the result to continue her campaign for independence.”
In his letter, Darling, who is campaigning in East Renfrewshire today with Blair MacDougall, the former Better Together chief who is standing as Labour’s candidate in the three-way race, says voters should use Thursday’s election, not to keep the Tories out, but to tell Sturgeon to get on with the day job.
“People voted for Scotland to remain in the UK and for a stronger Scottish Parliament. This has been delivered and the Scottish Government now need to get on with the day job and use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to build a country fit for the future instead of taking us back to the arguments of the past,” Darling says.
An SNP spokeswoman said: “This is a sad, dreary intervention from two of yesterday’s men — Scotland has moved on, but neither Gordon Brown or Alistair Darling seem to realise it.
“People in Scotland remember them as the cheerleaders for the Tory-led Better Together campaign. Indeed, Labour are working hand-in-glove with the Tories in councils across Scotland — and they have privately admitted that they are cheering on the Tories in seats across Scotland.
“Labour would be willing to see a Tory government with an increased majority just to spite the SNP.
“Labour cannot win this election in Scotland and any votes for them risk letting Tory MPs in by the back door — the fact that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling cannot even mention Jeremy Corbyn in their desperate letters shows they have no faith in his abilities.”
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