Senior Labour and SNP figures planned a joint declaration on an independence referendum ahead of the last Holyrood election.
The so-called ‘Scotland United’ agreement would also have included a commitment to oppose the Tories and austerity.
The revelation is contained in a new book by one of the key players in the secret talks, former Labour MSP Neil Findlay.
Both the SNP and Labour have struggled to work with each other at Holyrood due to being at loggerheads on independence.
But Findlay’s book, Hope and Despair, reveals an attempt to bridge the divide between March 2020 and January 2021 - months before the Holyrood poll.
The talks, which fleshed out common positions, included Findlay (at that point an MSP), Labour peer Baroness Bryan and former Jeremy Corbyn adviser Tommy Kane.
Kenny MacAskill and Alex Neil, at that point an SNP MP and MSP respectively, as well as Nationalist stalwart Jim Sillars, also took part.
Findlay told the Record the plan included a joint recognition that both parties had a constitutional position worthy of respect.
They also agreed to support another referendum with independence and a devo max option on the ballot.
As a stop gap, he said the SNP and Labour left wingers agreed to oppose austerity and promote a “pro-working class” agenda.
“This was a level of political maturity that is missing from Scottish politics, which is being dragged down by tribal allegiances,” he said.
The former MSP said the agreement did not materialise as the Holyrood election came too soon.
It is understood the party leaderships at the time - Richard Leonard for Labour and Nicola Sturgeon for the SNP - were unaware of the backroom talks.
Alex Neil said: “Neil Findlay and other Labour people were of the view the Scottish people were entitled to another vote, but that there should be a third option on the ballot. Any democrat would have to accept that reasoning. If the price of a second referendum was a third option, then so be it.”
He continued: “Neil Findlay was still going to say ‘vote Labour’ and we were still going to say ‘vote SNP’, but we were all saying the social and economic agenda was not progressing at anything like the rate it should at Holyrood.”
Sillars confirmed the talks: “As left-wingers, we were very concerned the issues that mattered were being overlooked. But the timing of the election made it impossible.”
MacAskill said: “I took part in the calls. In the wider labour movement there is more that unites us than divides us. I am always happy to build bridges.”
The 'Scotland United' working title was the same name as the body that organised a pro-referendum rally after the Tories won the 1992 general election.
Scottish Conservative Deputy Leader Meghan Gallacher said: “These revelations reaffirm why pro-UK voters were right to vote for the Scottish Conservatives in record numbers at the 2021 Holyrood election.
“Time and time again Labour show they simply cannot be trusted when it comes to the Union or to stand up to the nationalists.
“These secretive talks show that senior figures in both parties clearly felt there was common ground to be found and under Anas Sarwar’s leadership that theme has continued.
“Labour backed Nicola Sturgeon’s flawed GRR bill and you could barely put a cigarette packet between them when it comes to policy."
Hope and Despair is published by Luath Press and is available at neilfindlaybooks.com
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