JEREMY Corbyn has lifted the lid on the frequent pressure he received during his time as Labour leader to oppose a second Scottish independence referendum.
It comes after Andy Burnham told John Swinney last month that they will have to “agree to disagree” on Scottish independence.
“It’s not something he’s focused on and it’s not a conversation that he’s interested in taking forward,” a UK Government source said of the new Prime Minister’s position on the issue.
Downing Street also later said it was “off limits” despite a record number of pro-independence MSPs being elected at the Holyrood election in May.
Asked about this on a special episode of The National podcast, Corbyn, who is now the leader of Your Party and the MP for Islington North, described Burnham’s position as a “very big mistake”.
“You're thrust into a position, you get a lot of advice on things you should not do,” he said.
“And so I think you have to ignore some of that advice and just get on with it, but to say that he will absolutely rule out a referendum. Well, is it really his gift to do that?”
Corbyn added: “If there is a big realistic demand for a referendum, then surely the democrat in him and the democrat in me and the democrat in you would say, well, have that choice, make that decision.
“And so I think he's wrong to do that, and certainly if legislation does come up in this parliament requiring a referendum be held, I will certainly vote for it because I do think the people have a right to decide their own future.”
The Islington North MP led the Labour Party whilst in opposition between 2015 and 2020, with some confusion over his position on a possible indyref2 at the time.
For example, in 2018 Corbyn refused to rule it out if he became prime minister.
But in the run up to the 2019 General Election, he then said it wouldn’t happen in the first five-year term of a Labour government – later clarifying it simply wouldn’t be an early priority.
Since being ejected from the Labour Party, Corbyn’s position has softened – arguing that if the people of Scotland want to hold an independence referendum, “that is their choice”.
But asked whether he felt internal pressure behind closed doors to oppose indyref2 during his time as Labour leader, Corbyn said: “I certainly was told that very often, to stay away from it all by a lot of people who should have known better.”
He went on: “But also, Labour didn't seem to have learnt from the 2014 referendum and the Better Together campaign. The Better Together campaign was seen as a clever wheeze between the parties, you know, we're better together.
“Well if you're unemployed, homeless, and very poor and living in Glasgow or Edinburgh, anywhere in Scotland, and you're told you're better off together – it's not always obvious that you are better off together.”
Corbyn said: “And so the link up with the Tories in order to win the referendum, they might have thought it was very clever because it worked, but it was absolutely disastrous for Scottish Labour in the 2015 general election when they lost all but one seat.”
“We gained a small number back in 2017, and now there's a few more gained back, but I think it has been something that is catastrophic for Scottish Labour, and I'm not sure that Scottish Labour has yet faced up to the reality of that."
