SCOTTISH LABOUR leader Anas Sarwar and his LibDem counterpart Willie Rennie have held talks on working together and stopping independence, according to a former staffer.
Matthew Clark, a former chief of staff for the LibDems in the Scottish Parliament, told Holyrood magazine that Sarwar and Rennie have spoken “informally” about how to put forward a “credible” alternative to independence.
At the Holyrood election in May, Sarwar’s party won 21.6% of the constituency vote and 17.9% of the regional list vote, returning 22 seats overall, down two on Labour’s 2016 result.
Meanwhile Rennie’s party won just 6.9% of the constituency vote and 5.1% of the regional vote, returning four MSPs – a decrease of one on the last election.
Together their constituency vote share adds up to about 28%, while their regional vote share totals 23%.
Both parties oppose a Scottish independence referendum being held in this parliamentary term and believe the nation’s Covid recovery should come first.
In an interview with the magazine, Clark said: “Anas Sarwar and Willie have talked together informally to try and say there’s a way forward in Scotland that doesn’t involve you either having to vote for independence or sticking with the Tories, and so in a sense that could be a strength going forward, that if the LibDems and Labour are working together to put that argument, then people will say there is a credible route now to this better way, this less destructive way than the Conservatives and SNP.”
According to the former LibDem chief of staff, the party leaders understand they need to form a “decent bloc and decent argument” distinct from the Tories or SNP. Sarwar and Rennie “get on well and are on the same page”, he added.
Areas of shared concern would include reforming the UK, “decent jobs and homes” and creating a “social democratic society”, he added.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross urges Unionist parties to commit to 'pro-UK coalition' after election
Prior to the election, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross attempted to secure a Better Together style deal between himself, Sarwar and Rennie.
The Moray MP reached out with the aim of forming a “pro-UK, anti-referendum coalition” following the launch of Alex Salmond’s Alba party.
The plan failed, however, with LibDem campaign chair Alistair Carmichael telling Ross his politics were “far too dark and divisive”. Sarwar said while his party is still committed to opposing indyref2, they would not be drawn into a “petty agenda of game playing”.
Newly elected SNP MSP Jim Fairlie (below) said: “No version of devo max, however defined, would have protected Scotland from Brexit, or the Tory power grab on Holyrood – only independence can do that. The power grab also proves that any amount of devolution can be clawed back by Westminster.
“Labour and the LibDems have no mandate – between them they have 26 seats out of 129. There is a rock solid pro-independence, pro-referendum majority, and the SNP won the election by a landslide, with a higher share of the constituency vote than any party in the history of devolution.
"This is a last-ditch effort from both parties to stay relevant in Scotland, but they will continue to stay irrelevant if they do not recognise the democratic will of the people of Scotland who have chosen to put their future into their own hands, not those of Boris Johnson, which Labour and the LibDems seem happy to do.
"The LibDems and Labour cannot protect Scotland from the Tories, the only way to protect Scotland is with independence."
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