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Scots party backing for Alexander

Sat May 10 17:40:12 UTC 2008

Brown vows to fight UK break up

Sat May 10 22:30:26 UTC 2008

The leader of the Scottish Labour Party has received the full backing of her party's ruling body in her call for an early vote on Scottish independence.

Gordon Brown has pledged to do "whatever is necessary" to preserve the United Kingdom in the face of demands for Scottish independence.

Wendy Alexander claimed her party had called the SNP's bluff, after a meeting with members of Labour's Scottish executive in Stirling. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister urged pro-Union parties, businesses and trade unions to fight to prevent the break up of the UK.
It comes after a source close to the prime minister said he and Ms Alexander would "lead the defence of the Union". His remarks come after Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander called for an early referendum on independence.
The SNP'S deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said Ms Alexander had no credibility.She claims she was calling the SNP's bluff, but they ridiculed the move.
The Labour Party was accused of being in "disarray" over whether there should be a referendum on independence. 'Dangers of separation'
The Scottish Government had said that a referendum bill would be brought forward in 2010. In the newspaper interview, Mr Brown publicly backed Ms Alexander, describing her as an "excellent leader" of Labour in Scotland.
As recently as March, Ms Alexander stated her opposition to a vote. However, he went on to stress he was personally "not persuaded" of the case for a poll.
We gave the SNP a chance to bring it forward and they ran scared from the verdict of the Scottish people
Wendy Alexander 		He said: "I will do anything and everything to ensure that the case for the Union, which has served Britain and the British people so well, is properly heard and advanced.
However, last Sunday, the Scottish Labour leader changed her stance when she called on the Scottish Government to "bring it on". Some issues are bigger than politics and need to be addressed in the common interest
Gordon Brown
But Gordon Brown failed to explicitly support her when her comments were raised at Prime Minister's Questions. "I want all unionist parties and all parts of business - employers, managers and trade unions - to work together not only to push the case for the Union but to expose the dangers of separation.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Conservatives also accused her of undermining the Calman Commission, which was set up by the three parties to review the powers of the Scottish Parliament. "Some issues are bigger than politics and need to be addressed in the common interest."
However, on Saturday, Scottish Labour's ruling body endorsed Ms Alexander's position. Last week, Ms Alexander threw Labour into turmoil in both Scotland and England with her unexpected call for an immediate referendum, having previously said that a poll on independence was unnecessary.
After the meeting, she told BBC Scotland: "I welcome the full support of Labour's Scottish Executive for our success in the Scottish Parliament this week in exposing the hypocrisy of the SNP. She later said Labour might introduce its own referendum bill in the Scottish Parliament if the SNP would not - apparently contradicting her earlier opposition to a vote.
"We gave them a chance to bring it forward and they ran scared from the verdict of the Scottish people. The prime minister failed to explicitly support her when taunted in the Commons about the row by Tory leader David Cameron.
"I have the highest regard for the Prime Minister - we talk regularly and I have no doubt that I have his confidence." 'Re-writing history'
The prime minister failed to endorse Ms Alexander's stance in the CommonsMs Alexander has now said that as a minority party in the Scottish Parliament, Labour cannot force an early referendum on its own.
Meanwhile, a senior aide to Gordon Brown has described Ms Alexander as a "first rate leader" but avoided commenting on her proposals to bring forward a referendum. “The SNP can never again claim that a Unionist cabal is denying Scotland a voice," she claimed.
"This week, the SNP have been flushed out on their plans for a referendum," he said. "The SNP party colour is yellow and now we know why.
"The separatists clearly fear the verdict of the Scottish people but they hope that eventually their politics of grudge and grievance, together with a partisan referendum question, can push Scotland out of the Union. “Alex Salmond's supposed timetable for a referendum in late 2010 merely serves his own narrow political and electoral interests, rather than the interests of the Scottish people.”
"Gordon and Wendy will lead the defence of the Union and Scotland's place in it and they support the continuing work of the Calman Commission and its proposals to strengthen devolution and the Union." Mr Salmond ridiculed Ms Alexander's "complete and utter humiliation" and said Mr Brown had demonstrated "a supreme inability to either control events or even keep up with them".
Meanwhile the SNP describe Labour's position as a humiliating climb-down. Mr Salmond also stressed that Labour had now conceded the principle of a referendum.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Words like 'laughing stock' do not even begin to reach the extent of the Labour Party's disarray and humiliation." And Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie observed: "Wendy Alexander tries to defend her indefensible actions of the last seven days by rewriting history, stretching credibility and taking the public for fools."
She said the SNP would move ahead as planned and bring forward a referendum bill in 2010.