ANDY Burnham denying Scotland a second referendum would be “displaying the worst of Westminster arrogance,” the SNP’s Westminster leader has said.
The former Greater Manchester mayor is expected to be named Labour leader at the end of next week and has already told Scottish Labour MPs that he is “not willing to consider” a second vote, despite his support for further devolution, according to the Mail on Sunday.
Sources at the meeting told the newspaper that Burnham was firm in his opposition to a second referendum, with one attendee saying: “Andy was crystal clear that it is not something he is going to be considering”
According to recent polling by Norstat Scots in June and the Diffley Partnership in April, Scots would vote for independence by 52% to 48% if there were a second vote on the constitution.
Speaking on Tuesday, SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan warned Burnham to “not repeat the mistakes of his predecessors,” by not allowing a second referendum.
“He would be displaying the worst of Westminster arrogance by denying democracy in Scotland,” he said.
“The SNP is ready to work with Mr Burnham to devolve greater powers to the Scottish Parliament, including over Scotland’s energy and other key areas for our economy and communities.
“That has to include transferring powers to hold an independence referendum – so the people of Scotland can control our democratic right to determine our own future.
“Scotland’s future must be in the hands of the people of Scotland – not decided in secret chats and backroom meetings at Westminster.”
Under the Scotland Act – the legislation which formed the Scottish Parliament – the powers for a referendum must be secured by a Section 30 order allowed by the UK Government.
Doogan added that the three devolved administrations of the UK have pro-independence parties in leading roles, saying the UK Government “cannot continue to stick its head in the sand”.
He added: “Rather than disrespecting Scottish democracy, he should be going out of his way to prove he is committed to it.
“If the Labour Party isn’t going to learn the lessons of its biggest ever defeat, then most of the Scottish Labour MPs that Andy Burnham was meeting will lose their seats at the next election.”
Burnham pledged to speak to the Celtic Alliance leaders “soon” during an “ask me anything” post on the social media platform Reddit.
Burnham, who could become prime minister as soon as July 17 if he runs uncontested, was asked how he would like his relationship with the devolved governments to work, and how they would interact with his plans for devolution.
He responded: “I would like it to be as collaborative and pragmatic as possible.
“I want the same offer to power up places to be available in all parts of the UK.
“I will speak soon to First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to agree a positive way of working to this end.”
However, the Labour MP has faced a wave of criticism after saying that people in Dundee and Bangor “feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster”.
First Minister John Swinney said the comments demonstrated “Andy Burnham's lack of knowledge about Scotland”.
He also criticised an opinion piece Burnham published in the Scotsman which made multiple errors about Scotland's political set-up, saying that the Labour MP was in no “strong position to lecture”.
