SCOTTISH Labour will not back the Referendums Bill tomorrow when it goes to Holyrood for a final vote.
It is understood the party believes having an independence referendum next year while it is still unclear what the new trading relationship between the UK and the EU would be the wrong thing to do.
Labour MSP Neil Findlay put that view forward during a debate yesterday in the Scottish Parliament which followed a statement from Nicola Sturgeon on the result of last Thursday’s General Election.
The development comes just a few days after leading figures in Scottish Labour publicly questioned the party’s opposition to a second independence referendum following its disastrous election result in which it lost six of its MPs in Scotland, leaving it with just one, Ian Murray in Edinburgh South.
Monica Lennon, the party’s health spokesperson, said over the weekend the “future of Scotland must be decided by the Scottish people”.
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Her backing was endorsed by others and followed senior Labour councillor Alison Evison, the president of local authority group Cosla, on Saturday giving her support to a second independence referendum.
The Referendums (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Holyrood earlier this year, setting out a framework for any referendums to be held in Scotland, and could pave the way for a new ballot on independence.
Last month ministers accepted that further legislation would need to be passed before a vote could be held.
The Referendums Bill looks set to pass with the backing of the SNP and Greens. The Conservatives and LibDems have previously said they will oppose the legislation.
Lennon’s and Evison’s interventions provoked other Labour politicians to underline their continued opposition to a second independence referendum. They included MSPs Anas Sarwar and Jenny Marra.
The debate carried on yesterday with Labour activist Rory Scothorne describing the party’s decision to vote tomorrow against a second independence referendum next year as “wrong”.
In a post on Twitter, he referred to a tweet on the party’s stance on the vote, and posted a link to a petition backing an independence referendum.
He wrote: “Wrong, of course, but nobody should expect the party to even try and shift on this until the post-mortem has properly started. If you think Labour shd have a deeper, more radical vision of self-determination & democracy than the Greens & SNP, sign here eh.”
Earlier this week, party leader Richard Leonard announced Scottish Labour would undertake a swift review into its election rout that will include developing a “clear, constitutional offer” to the nation. He said: “In the coming weeks we will be conducting a swift evidence-based review of the election campaign and result, in order to chart our way forward.
“We will lead a public engagement campaign to establish why voters who are clearly still desperate for change no longer feel that Scottish Labour is the vehicle for the realisation of that change. We must develop a clear constitutional offer that wins back the confidence of voters who in this election felt that we did not offer clarity over Scotland’s future.”
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