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General election 2019: Corbyn says no indyref2 in 'first term' General election 2019: Corbyn rows back on indyref2 comments
(about 2 hours later)
A Labour government would not back a second Scottish independence vote during its "first term" in power, leader Jeremy Corbyn has said. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has rowed back on comments that he would not back a Scottish independence referendum in the "first term" of a new government.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold a new referendum in 2020. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the SNP will not help Mr Corbyn into power unless he accepts the "principle" of a second referendum.
She has said her SNP MPs would only consider putting Mr Corbyn in Downing Street in a hung parliament if he accepts the "principle" of such a vote. Mr Corbyn initially told reporters that this would not happen in the first five-year term of a Labour government.
But Mr Corbyn said this would not take place in his first five-year term, when his focus would be on "investment". He later clarified that it would not be a priority in the "early years".
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that a Labour-SNP alliance would "ruin 2020" with two referendums. ‬Mr Corbyn was speaking in Glasgow at the beginning of a two-day campaign visit to Scotland, which will conclude with a rally in Edinburgh on Thursday.
The Labour leader was speaking in Glasgow at the beginning of a two-day campaign visit to Scotland which will conclude with a rally in Edinburgh on Thursday. Labour has previously said it would not back an independence referendum in 2020, but could change its position if the SNP wins the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021.
Ms Sturgeon has said the SNP could back a Labour minority government in the event of a hung parliament on an "issue by issue basis".
However, she has insisted that Mr Corbyn should not "pick up the phone" to ask for SNP votes unless he is ready to accept the "principle" of a second independence referendum, as well as ending austerity and offering further powers to Holyrood.
Labour has previously indicated that it would not actively block an independence vote, but would not make it an immediate priority when in power.
Mr Corbyn told journalists in Glasgow that there would be "no referendum in the first term of a Labour government, because I think we need to concentrate completely on investment in Scotland".Mr Corbyn told journalists in Glasgow that there would be "no referendum in the first term of a Labour government, because I think we need to concentrate completely on investment in Scotland".
It has previously been suggested that Labour would not oppose a referendum if the SNP won a majority in the Holyrood elections in 2021. This appeared to go further than the party's previous comments on the prospect of indyref2 if it wins power.
A party source said they would absolutely rule out a poll in 2020, and repeated Mr Corbyn's claim that Labour would win the 2021 Scottish election. But a few hours later, Mr Corbyn reverted back to Labour's previous position by saying that he would "not countenance an independence referendum in the early years of a Labour government because our priorities will be elsewhere."
The Labour leader said his party would "provide the massive investment Scotland deserves", saying the general election was a "very simple" choice between the Conservatives or Labour being in charge. Pressed further on whether he would grant a vote if the SNP won the Holyrood election, Mr Corbyn replied: "I'm not in favour of it at all because I think the priorities for Scotland are ending inequality, poverty and injustice across Scotland and independence will bring with it an economic problem for Scotland."
He said: "I believe the people of this country deserve better than Boris Johnson and his government, and the country would be better off with a Labour government." He also told BBC Scotland editor Brian Taylor that: "In the early years of a Labour government I want to concentrate totally on investment all across the UK, including the £70bn I want to invest in Scotland."
'Main challenger' A Labour source said the party would absolutely rule out a poll in 2020, and repeated Mr Corbyn's claim that the party would win the 2021 Scottish election.
Ms Sturgeon later told the BBC that Mr Corbyn was "weak" on many issues, and said Labour were not competitive in many Scottish constituencies. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that an "alliance" between Labour and the SNP if there is a hung parliament would "ruin 2020" with two referendums - one on independence and another on the EU.
She said: "The key thing in this election is the only party that can beat the Tories in Scotland is the SNP. Ms Sturgeon has insisted that Mr Corbyn should not "pick up the phone" to ask for the support of SNP MPs unless he is ready to accept the "principle" of a second independence referendum, as well as ending austerity and offering further powers to Holyrood.
"We are the main challenger in every Tory-held seat. A vote for Labour risks letting in the Tories." Responding to Mr Corbyn's comments, she said: "‪I won't help him in power, to get into power, to stay in power if he doesn't accept the principle that whether there is a referendum in Scotland and what the timescale of that referendum should be should be determined by the people of Scotland."
The SNP leader said her MPs would stand up to the Conservatives as well as keeping a potential Labour UK government "on the right track". She called it a "basic issue of democracy" but claimed it was "highly unlikely" Labour would give up a chance at being in government by rejecting an independence referendum.
More clarifications to come? Ms Sturgeon added: "The reason that I think Jeremy Corbyn keeps getting into a mess on this question is that he knows that it is not democratically acceptable or democratically sustainable to block the right of the Scottish people to choose their future."
Analysis by BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley Labour 'squeezed out' in independence debate
Labour has sometimes struggled to keep its message on Scottish independence clear and consistent. Analysis by Scotland editor Sarah Smith
The party in Scotland had said it believed Labour would have a mandate to reject calls for another referendum if it won power in Westminster. When Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader, the party hoped he'd make the SNP look like moderate centrists and he would win back left wing voters to the red corner. But that project has had only limited success.
But earlier this year John McDonnell made clear the party in London would not block a referendum if that's what the Scottish Parliament wanted (and Holyrood does have a pro-independence majority). Most of their voters have been lost to the SNP. And many of those who still vote Labour in Westminster elections are sympathetic to the idea of Scottish independence - or at least to having another referendum to allow Scotland to decide.
Labour then said it wouldn't allow a referendum in its formative years - assumed to mean before the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021. So you'd think the Labour Party's flirtation with the idea of allowing a second vote on independence would be welcome. But instead it appears to have thrown confusion into the debate.
Now, however, Mr Corbyn has muddied the waters suggesting he might not allow one at all in the first terms of a Labour government - in theory five years. While the SNP are ferociously in favour of independence, and the Tories (and Lib Dems) implacably opposed, Labour seem lost in the middle. Squeezed out of the biggest debate in Scotland.
That calls into question the relationship between Labour and the SNP - who have said an independence referendum should happen next year. Nicola Sturgeon has said she won't even speak to Mr Corbyn unless he allows the Scottish parliament to make the decision. Read more from Sarah here
It's possible there will be more clarifications to come from Mr Corbyn. As he arrived for the Glasgow campaign, Mr Corbyn was heckled by a Church of Scotland minister who branded him a "terrorist sympathiser".
Prior to the campaign event, Mr Corbyn was heckled by a Church of Scotland minister who branded him a "terrorist sympathiser". As Mr Corbyn was telling reporters about a scarf given to him by a charity group, Richard Cameron - the minister at the local Scotstoun Parish Church - shouted that he thought the Labour leader would be wearing an "Islamic jihad scarf".
As Mr Corbyn was telling reporters about a scarf given to him by a charity group, Richard Cameron, the minister at the local Scotstoun Parish Church, shouted that he thought the Labour leader would be wearing an "Islamic jihad scarf".
He added: "Who's going to be the first terrorist invited to the House of Commons when you're prime minister?"He added: "Who's going to be the first terrorist invited to the House of Commons when you're prime minister?"
A spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland rebuked Mr Cameron, saying: "Whilst we may occasionally robustly challenge policy issues with which we disagree, we always intend to do that in a way that is polite and measured and allows for reasoned debate."A spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland rebuked Mr Cameron, saying: "Whilst we may occasionally robustly challenge policy issues with which we disagree, we always intend to do that in a way that is polite and measured and allows for reasoned debate."
The Conservatives and the Lib Dems have both positioned themselves in opposition to a second independence referendum.The Conservatives and the Lib Dems have both positioned themselves in opposition to a second independence referendum.
Speaking at an electric vehicle manufacturer in the West Midlands later, Boris Johnson will say everyone in the UK faces "a historic choice" on 12 December. Speaking at an electric vehicle manufacturer in the West Midlands, Boris Johnson said everyone in the UK faces "a historic choice" on 12 December.
The PM will say: "At this election, the country can either move forwards with policies that will deliver years of growth and prosperity, or it can disappear into an intellectual cul-de-sac of far-left Corbynism. He said: "At this election, the country can either move forwards with policies that will deliver years of growth and prosperity, or it can disappear into an intellectual cul-de-sac of far-left Corbynism.
"We can honour the wishes of the people, or else we can waste more time, at the cost of a billion pounds per month, and have two more referendums, one on Scotland and one on the EU - an expense of spirit and a waste of shame, more political self-obsession and onanism." "We can honour the wishes of the people, or else we can waste more time, at the cost of a billion pounds per month, and have two more referendums, one on Scotland and one on the EU - an expense of spirit and a waste of shame, more political self-obsession."
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie, meanwhile, said his party "will never support another independence referendum". Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said his party "will never support another independence referendum".
Speaking at a nursery in Dunfermline while promoting his party's childcare policy, he said: "It's really important we move on, we learn the lessons from Brexit rather than trying to repeat them with independence.Speaking at a nursery in Dunfermline while promoting his party's childcare policy, he said: "It's really important we move on, we learn the lessons from Brexit rather than trying to repeat them with independence.
"Let's try to tackle things like childcare expansion, let's tackle the climate emergency, deal with mental health service problems that we've got in this country. We've had enough of the division and damage over the constitution.""Let's try to tackle things like childcare expansion, let's tackle the climate emergency, deal with mental health service problems that we've got in this country. We've had enough of the division and damage over the constitution."