Scottish Labour’s IndyRef2 civil war has intensified after party moderates criticised demands by senior figures to back a second referendum.
Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar dismissed the calls as “rash” and colleague Colin Smyth said the position would leave the public wondering where Labour stood.
Labour in Scotland came fourth at the general election after losing six of their seven MPs to the SNP.
Former Labour voters have shifted to the Nationalists in recent years, fuelling concerns about the party’s future.
Their latest defeat prompted Shadow Health Secretary Monica Lennon to argue that Labour should embrace IndyRef2, rather than opposing another vote.
She said at the weekend that Holyrood, not the UK Government, should make the final call on another referendum:
“The SNP blueprint for independence is flawed and will disappoint many progressive Scots who are fed up with austerity.
“Nevertheless, the future of Scotland must be decided by the people of Scotland.”
Her view was backed up by defeated Labour MP Ged Killen, while senior councillor Alison Evison went further by saying indyref2 should take place.
However, Sarwar, who lost the leadership to Richard Leonard in 2017, blasted: “I see some “key figures” in @scottishlabour are jumping to join the false choice of Boris’ Britain vs Sturgeon’s Scotland.
"This does nothing to reject the divisive visions of both & hold together those that believe in the principles of unity, solidarity, equality & redistribution.
“Rather than making rash pronouncements on #indyref2, I think we need a genuine period of reflection and some humility from those who led us to our worst EU election result and worst General Election result in living memory.”
Ian Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh South, said: “The SNP [election] campaign was to stop Brexit and lock out Boris. They didn’t ask for a mandate for indyref2.
"In fact, all the SNP leaflets in Edinburgh South south didn’t even mention it. The problem was leadership for Labour not a mandate for independence.”
Smyth, a Labour MSP for South of Scotland, wrote: “Let’s begin by deciding the party in Scotland agrees our position not London then setting out a radical alternative to independence and the status quo.
“Whether or not to have a referendum isn’t a position it’s a process. It still leaves the public wondering what we stand for.”
And Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, also weighed in: “Referendums are inherently a divisive means of government. Even if we agree in principle how it may happen, but that does not mean we think it’s a good idea.
“Independence is a bad idea and another referendum would simply sow more division.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, is under pressure over the dismal election results he has recorded.
He will face his own MSPs for the first time since the election at a group meeting today.
