Starmer should strike deal with SNP on second referendum, says Kezia Dugdale

Sir Keir Starmer should strike a deal with the SNP that would pave the way for a new referendum on independence, a former Scottish Labour leader has said.

A report co-authored by Kezia Dugdale called for an agreement based on the UK’s position on Irish reunification, placing an obligation on the UK Government to allow a new independence vote if leaving the UK had “sustained” majority support.

Ms Dugdale, whose paper was co-authored with Stephen Noon, chief strategist for the Yes campaign at the 2014 referendum, claimed an “agreed path” to a new vote on separation could finally heal a “running sore” in Scottish politics.

However, the Scottish Tories accused Ms Dugdale of “playing into the hands” of the SNP and said Scots were sick and tired of “obsessing over referendums”.

Under the Good Friday Agreement signed by Sir Tony Blair in 1998, the UK Government is required to call a vote on Irish reunification if it “appears likely” that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would support it.

Ms Dugdale and Mr Noon said that a similar deal should be struck between the UK and Scottish governments on independence, with the Scottish Secretary obliged to allow a new vote if there was “clear majority support” for it over a “sustained period of time”.

The pair claimed this could “bring an end to a debate on process that has entangled Scotland”.

‘Legal mandate’

Ms Dugdale, who was a leading figure in the Better Together campaign and later married to Jenny Gilruth, the SNP education secretary, said she still supported the Union but now had a greater appreciation of the “motivations and desires” of independence supporters.

“We should place a legal mandate on the Secretary of State for Scotland to determine when a second independence referendum will take place,” said Ms Dugdale, who led Labour north of the border between 2015 and 2017, but this year admitted voting SNP at the 2019 European elections.

“That’s not on their whim or a party political position. If that public opinion is sustained and in support of independence, they must… give the Scottish Parliament the power to determine how that referendum would run.”

Speaking to the Holyrood Sources podcast, Ms Dugdale admitted many within Labour would “hate” her proposals but pleaded with both Unionists and nationalists not to “kill” her plan.

“I know there are people in the SNP who will read this and come to the conclusion it is some sort of governor’s charter,” she said.

“There’s some stuff in this that Labour will hate and they’ll hate me for advocating it. It’s a new conversation, asking people to start around shared values and common ground.”

The call for a compromise deal between the SNP and Unionists came after the nationalists lost 39 seats in Scotland, in a result that demolished any credible claims of a mandate for a new referendum.

Speaking on the 10-year anniversary of the independence vote, in which 55 per cent of Scots rejected separation, John Swinney told his supporters to do more to win over Unionists if they were to realise their independence dream.

Sources close to the First Minister conceded that this amounted to a concession that Nicola Sturgeon’s repeated attempts to force a second referendum through parliamentary and legal processes had failed.

Opinion polls have shown that views on the constitution have not meaningfully shifted in the last decade, with most showing narrow support for the Union.

Ms Dugdale and Mr Noon’s paper, produced by the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Public Policy, said that a “higher threshold” than “50 per cent plus one” support for independence among the public would be required to trigger a new vote.

However, in any subsequent referendum, this would be sufficient for victory for either the Unionist or independence campaigns.

‘Decade of division’

Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Tories shadow constitution secretary, said: “Scots are sick and tired of constitutional wrangling after a decade of division caused by the nationalists who have refused to respect the referendum result.

“Pro-UK voters will be dismayed to see a former Scottish Labour leader playing into the hands of those who support independence with what is being suggested.

“They want the focus to be on their real priorities such as reducing record NHS backlogs, growing our economy and keeping communities safe, rather than obsessing over referendums yet again.”

The Scottish Government said it welcomed “all contributions” to the independence debate. A UK government spokesman said its “full focus” was on non-constitutional issues such as the economy.