THE Better Together alliance is over, Douglas Ross will say today, as he hits out at the “fair-weather” Unionists vying to be the next Labour leader.

In a speech, the Tory chief will criticise both Anas Sarwar and Monica Lennon for refusing to work with him to kibosh the SNP’s push for a second independence referendum. He’ll also promise his party will never agree to a second referendum at any point “under any circumstances”.

The Labour leadership hopefuls have hit back, calling Ross “desperate” and accusing him of “playground politics”.

It’s the final day of voting in the contest to replace Richard Leonard, with ballots due to close at noon.

The winner – who’ll become the party’s 10th Scottish leader since 1999 – will be revealed at around 11am tomorrow.

The difficulties ahead were exposed brutally yesterday in the latest polling by Ipsos MORI. With just 14% of voters backing them on the list and 15% on the constituency, they would, according to modelling carried out by Ballot Box Scotland, take 17 seats in May, down seven from the 24 won in 2016.

Both hopefuls also suffer from relatively low profiles. According to the pollster, 28% of voters say Sarwar would be the best leader, while 25% favour Lennon. However, 44% don’t know. Just 58% of Labour voters said they would definitely back the party on the list at the next Holyrood election, compared to 73% of SNP and Tory voters.

Another 38% of the party’s voters said independence was one of the key issues in helping them decide who to vote for. In a speech today, the Tory chief will make a bid for those wavering voters.

He will say: “I have been clear that I would work with Labour to get 100% of our focus on rebuilding Scotland but it has become clear they will never work with us.

“Whoever wins, they will be half-hearted on the constitution. Either Monica Lennon will make the SNP’s arguments for them or Anas Sarwar will tell the SNP ‘not today but tomorrow is fine’ for your indyref2.

“People who want to stop an SNP majority are not looking for someone who might turn around and betray them to prop up the SNP after the election. Their new leader, whoever it is, has a choice to make because voters are not looking for fair-weather Unionists who might change direction like a weather vane after the May 6 election. They want to know their vote will really mean no to indyref2.”

Lennon said: “This is desperate and attention-seeking nonsense from Douglas Ross. The Tories are experts in dividing our communities and forcing working-class people into poverty. People in Scotland are tired of the same old arguments from politicians who want to drag us back to 2014, rather than take responsibility for their own government records.

“I am listening to the people who have been failed by the SNP and the Tories and I am committed to leading a positive election campaign, putting forward our vision of a fairer Scotland.”

Sarwar said: “This is just a game for Douglas Ross.

“He wants to engage in playground politics while people are losing their lives and livelihoods.

“He wants to take us back to the old arguments, while I am determined to focus on what unites the people of Scotland, not what divides us.

“Scottish Labour is a home for anyone who believes we should work together to recover from Covid.”