Lisa Nandy has defended her comments after sparking outrage by citing Catalonia as an example of how Labour could deal with the Scottish independence movement.
In an interview with the BBC ’s Andrew Neil, the Labour leadership candidate suggested her party should look to places such as Quebec and Catalonia, where she said social justice has “managed to go and beat narrow, divisive nationalism”.
Political leaders in Catalonia seeking to establish their own nation state have been jailed for staging an illegal referendum and Spanish police used plastic bullets and baton charges against independence campaigners in the autonomous region.
When Neil challenged the Labour MP over her equating the independence movement with far-right nationalism, Nandy argued the country has “had enough of referendums”.
She said: “We should look outwards to other parts of the world where they’ve had to deal with divisive nationalism.
“We should seek to discover the lessons from when, in brief moments in history in places like Catalonia and Quebec, we have managed to go and beat narrow, divisive nationalism with a social justice agenda.”
Nandy rejected Neil’s suggestion that Scottish independence went “hand in hand” with social justice.
She said: “I think it suits the Scottish nationalists to keep this argument going about independence, because while the entire conversation is focused on the constitution, nobody is paying attention to their record, which is frankly appalling.”
SNP politicians lined up to condemn Nandy’s comments.
At First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said: “I’m going to assume, hard though it may be to believe, that when she made the comments that she did, she hadn’t paid attention to what has actually happened in Catalonia in recent times. Because if she had, she would surely not have suggested that there are any positive lessons at all to be learned from that.”
SNP MP Stewart McDonald attacked the Wigan MP as “clueless”, while Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the interview was “offensive, wrong-headed and just plain out of step”.
Nandy staged a fightback, saying she was referring to how Catalan socialists had gained ground on separatists in recent elections.
She said: “Socialists in Catalonia have for years been peacefully resisting the advance of separatists there, and most recent indications suggest that their democratic efforts may well succeed.
“There are hopeful signs their approach of socialism and solidarity – which stands in stark contrast to the unjustified violence we saw from the Spanish police operating under the instruction of Spain’s then right-wing prime minister Mariano Rajoy – may yet win out.”
Former first minister Jack McConnell, who has supported Nandy’s leadership bid, rallied to her defence. He accused nationalist commentators of taking her comments out of context to stir up “Twittermania” and said it was “wild nonsense” to suggest she had encouraged state violence.
He backed Nandy’s idea for an international commission to learn lessons from experiences in places such as Quebec and Catalonia.
McConnell added: “Scottish politics has been insular for far too long. The idea that someone might actually look elsewhere for ideas and experience is a breath of fresh air.”
