Scottish Labour divisions on IndyRef2 have flared up again after senior MSPs abstained on the SNP Government’s referendum bill.
Monica Lennon and Neil Findlay broke the whip by ignoring Labour’s call to oppose the legislation.
Party figures responded to the general election defeat by publicly calling for a rethink of Labour’s opposition to IndyRef2.
Lennon said Labour voters had switched to the SNP and she called for Holyrood, not the UK Government, to have the final say on another referendum. Senior councillor Alison Evison went further and backed IndyRef2.
However, the calls sparked an angry backlash from other MSPs who want Labour to be staunchly opposed to a referendum like the Tories.
Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar said at the time: “I see some “key figures” in Scottish Labour are jumping to join the false choice of Boris’ Britain vs Sturgeon’s Scotland.
“This does nothing to reject the divisive visions of both and hold together those that believe in the principles of unity, solidarity, equality and redistribution.”
The tensions came to a head when MSPs voted on the Government’s Referendums (Scotland) Bill on Thursday, the framework legislation which would set out the rules for future votes.
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Labour whipped its MSPs to vote against the Bill, but backbencher Findlay and shadow health secretary Lennon abstained.
Findlay said Labour must “now get its act together very quickly”, adding that “hard, oppositionalist Unionism is the road to oblivion”.
However, while he said the SNP Government has the right to proceed with a referendum, he said doing so before there was “clarity” over Brexit was putting party over Scotland's national interest.
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