Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has rejected calls for a multi-option referendum on the constitution.
His allies believe devo-max should be on the ballot paper alongside independence, but Leonard has dismissed the idea as a “distraction”.
The party has firmed up its opposition to indyref2 and constitution spokesman Anas Sarwar has said Labour will oppose another referendum until at least 2026.
However, this stance is worrying some of Leonard’s natural supporters on the Left who believe it offers nothing to backers of independence.
They fear a hardline unionist position will narrow the party’s potential pool of voters at the Holyrood election, particularly against a backdrop of rising support for the SNP’s flagship policy.
Left wing Labour MSP Neil Findlay has argued the Scottish people are “sovereign” and has urged his party to include a devo-max option in any referendum, alongside independence and the status quo.
He wrote: “The time for a third option has come. We must now articulate it to the Scottish people.”
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer also said recently: “If Brexit has taught us anything, it is that there is much more to this than a simple binary choice, the devil will be in the detail and the general council supports giving the greatest possible choice to the Scottish people, should the time come for another referendum.”
However, speaking to the Daily Record, Leonard distanced himself from a multi-option ballot:
“I understand why there are some people in the Labour party who are considering these options, but for me that’s a distraction from the main purpose the Labour party has got for the next five years, which is to build the case for a different kind of Scotland within the devolved settlement.”
He added: “Going back to your earlier question about third options and referendums and all that, the thing that people are exercised about at the moment are whether or not they are going to have a job come the new year, they are exercised about what kind of education their kids are getting.”
Findlay said: “The case for a multi-option referendum grows by the day. It is self-evident that the divisions in Scotland are so great that we should never again have a binary referendum which forces people to make a decision about two bad options.”
