THE Liberal Democrats have said they are open to working with former prime minister Gordon Brown on the Labour Party commission on the Union.
Brown was mooted to advise a constitutional commission last December, but during his speech to the Labour conference on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said he was delighted the former prime minister was leading the review.
After the speech, LibDem Scottish affairs spokesperson Wendy Chamberlain said her party would work with Brown on the commission.
“Gordon Brown brings heft to the campaign to stand up for Scotland’s place in the UK and make the case for a reformed UK against the damage caused by the twin nationalisms presented by the Conservatives and the SNP,” she said.
“Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for reforming the whole of the UK with federalism, voting reform and an elected second chamber.
“If Labour are moving it that direction, we’d be happy to discuss that agenda with the former prime minister.”
The LibDems have published several pamphlets calling for a federal UK, the most recent of which was released in April of this year.
Experts said that the plans were a "non-starter” that would “realistically” never happen, points which the party declined to address when approached by The National.
Brown, who was in Number 10 from 2007 to 2010, has been one of the loudest voices in favour of the Union, having a prominent place in the final days of the 2014 independence referendum campaign.
READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch: Hidden results of Gordon Brown's poll are Unionist own goal
During his speech, Starmer said: “As Gordon Brown said recently ‘when a Welsh or a Scottish woman gives blood … she doesn’t demand an assurance it must not go to an English patient’.
“I am delighted that Gordon will lead our commission to settle the future of the Union."
Starmer has been widely criticised for the blood donation comment, with the SNP's Anne McLaughlin calling it "nonsense".
The Labour leader went on: “I know Gordon believes that if you look past the Tories’ pathetic attempts to divide us in a culture war you can glimpse a tolerant, progressive nation of which we can be proud.
“I believe that our diversity is one of the things that makes this country great.”
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