Andy Burnham was hit back in despair today after suggesting Scotland could hold another independence referendum if there was ‘majority public support’.
The Prime Minister appeared to be setting the conditions for a new separatist voice north of the border when he was challenged at PMQs.
He indicated that the same rules should apply in Scotland as in Scotland Northern Irelandwhere this requires a ‘clear consensus in the country’.
To answer SNP Burnham MP Chris Law said: “I would say exactly the same situation exists in Scotland. I am not aware that there is a majority of public support for a new referendum.
“And until that changes, there won’t be one.”
Andy Burnham appeared to set out the conditions for a new separatist mood in Scotland when he was challenged at PMQs
Replying to SNP MP Chris Law, Mr Burnham indicated that the same rules should apply in Scotland as in Northern Ireland, where this requires a ‘clear consensus in the country’.
Mr Burnham previously told Scottish First Minister John Swinney that there will not be another referendum and that they would have to ‘agree to disagree’ on the issue.
The SNP leader cheerfully took advantage of the House of Commons blunder this afternoon.
“To go from ‘off limits’ to this is an acceptance of the reality that the Scottish people will decide their own future – and not the British government,” Mr Swinney wrote on X.
‘For the first time since 2014, a British Prime Minister has accepted that majority support for a referendum should mean a referendum takes place.’
Downing Street pointed to the Prime Minister’s position that a vote is ‘off the table’.
Mr Burnham’s press officer said: ‘The Prime Minister has been clear on this on numerous occasions.
‘In his telephone conversation with the Scottish First Minister in his first week, the Prime Minister stated in advance that a new referendum on independence was prohibited.
“As our election manifesto makes clear, Labor does not support independence or a new referendum.”
In the 2014 referendum, Scots voted by a margin of 55 to 45 percent to remain in Britain.
That contest was described as a ‘once in a generation’ decision, but the SNP have since been pushing for a replay.
