KATE Forbes has said it is “a bit rich” for Keir Starmer to deny Scots an independence referendum after a poll suggested support would go up if Nigel Farage became prime minister.
Starmer dismissed the idea of an independence vote if the SNP get a majority at next year's Holyrood elections when he spoke to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme.
He claimed there was a need for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom in order to remain safe as he released his defence review.
Despite how John Swinney has established his strategy as building "demonstrable support" for independence through Government, Starmer said no one had raised the subject with him “as their first priority”.
It comes after a Norstat poll suggested Scottish independence support was at 54% but would rise further to almost 60% if Farage took power at Westminster.
Deputy First Minister Forbes, who was visiting Blantyre on Tuesday as part of campaigning in the Hamilton by-election this week, was asked by The National if it was a political tactic from Starmer to suggest Swinney was not focused on independence.
She said: “It’s hardly a surprise that Keir Starmer is repeating what we’ve heard from Tory prime ministers for years, and the day after we saw an increase in support for independence if Nigel Farage becomes prime minister, it seems a bit rich to be telling the people of Scotland what they are saying when their greatest concern is that the change that was promised by Labour hasn’t happened at all, opening the door to Nigel Farage.
“The purpose of the SNP is to deliver a better future for the people of Scotland.
“We are speaking to the people of Scotland, we are engaging directly with them, they are increasingly rejecting the empty politics of Westminster, indicating support for a different and better future.
“I think it’s a lot more important John Swinney is speaking to the people of Scotland than anyone else.”
The Norstat survey also found that 63% of Scots would back independence if the other option was direct Westminster rule.
The question asked, specifically: “If there were to be a second independence referendum tomorrow and the ONLY options on the ballot paper were full independence or the permanent closure of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood and a return to direct Westminster rule, how do you think you would vote?”
Labour voters during last July’s General Election were quite split on the issue – narrowly backing direct rule by 51% to 49%, according to the survey.
Forbes also hit out at Farage suggesting he would scrap the Scottish Parliament’s funding mechanism if he were prime minister.
Asked during a rare appearance in Scotland on Monday about whether he would get rid of the Barnett Formula, which is used to fund Holyrood, Farage said the mechanism was “out of date”.
He added: “What I’d like to see is a Scottish Government that’s able to raise a bit more of its own revenue and a Scottish economy that’s actually got genuine growth and I don’t believe that can happen without this sector [oil and gas] booming.”
Farage has also been accused by Swinney of "hating the very idea" of Holyrood.
Forbes said: “The Barnett consequentials is an important route for Scotland to be able to fund public services, and anybody that suggests that they are giving back to Scotland when Scotland pays its fair share in terms of tax, where right now revenues, for example, from one of our key industries, the energy industry, oil and gas, is supporting UK public services, it illustrates the importance of a well-recognised approach to Scotland’s public finances.”
