Burnham ‘knows he would lose’ a vote on Scottish independence, Gilruth says

Andy Burnham is running scared of a second Scottish independence referendum, because he “knows that he would lose”, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister said.

And while the Prime Minister has insisted that another ballot on the future of the UK is “off limits”, Jenny Gilruth told him: “This issue is not going to go away.”

She spoke after the Labour leader again made clear his opposition to a second Scottish independence referendum in a letter to Scottish First Minister John Swinney.

In that, Mr Burnham argued a constitutional ballot would “take our focus away from growing the economy and helping families with the cost of living”.

He clarified his stance after the SNP leader wrote to him, pressing for talks to agree a legal mechanism on how a future referendum could be  held.

That came after Mr Burnham appeared to suggest that Scotland should be in “exactly the same situation” as Northern Ireland, where the Good Friday Agreement sets out that a border poll can be held when the Northern Ireland Secretary determines there is “a clear consensus in the country, when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered”.

Mr Swinney had insisted those remarks represented a “big shift” in the Prime Minister’s stance.

But with the Labour leader making clear his opposition to a second referendum, Ms Gilruth accused him of being too scared to agree a mechanism for a ballot “because he knows that he would lose the resulting referendum”.

Ms Gilruth said: “Andy Burnham has let the cat out of the bag this week. For the first time since 2014, a British Prime Minister has accepted that Scotland’s constitutional future is for the people of Scotland to decide.”

She stressed that “the Prime Minister stood up in the House of Commons and accepted the principle that Scotland should have the right to decide our own future, making clear we should have an accepted mechanism, as exists in Northern Ireland”.

Scottish Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said the Prime Minister ‘knows that he would lose’ if there were another independence vote. (Robert Perry/PA)

The Scottish Deputy First Minister added: “The only reason he would then run scared of agreeing the mechanism for people to make their voice heard is because he knows that he would lose the resulting referendum.”

Ms Gilruth continued: “The UK Government’s previous refusal to accept Scotland’s right to decide was always unsustainable – and only 50 days into office, the Prime Minister was unable to sustain it any further.

“Now that he has accepted the democratic principle, any refusal to agree that legal mechanism is just as unsustainable – and deep down, the Prime Minister knows that too.

“And with more pro-independence MSPs than at any time in the history of the Scottish Parliament and polls showing support for the fresh start of independence, this issue is not going to go away.”

Downing Street stressed that Mr Burnham’s letter to the First Minister still stands.

In it, the Prime Minister said he had been “highlighting that there is no consensus for an independence referendum in Scotland”.

He told Mr Swinney: “As I made clear to you personally when we met recently in Glasgow, independence and a referendum are off limits as it would take our focus away from growing the economy and helping families with the cost of living.”

Those points were echoed by Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander who insisted that now is not the time for “another divisive referendum”.

Speaking to the Press Association on Thursday evening, Mr Alexander said the Prime Minister had been “very clear” that “constitutional change and indeed an independence referendum is off limits and off the agenda”.

He continued: “Frankly, there are other priorities that I sense here in Scotland people want politicians to be focused on. People are really struggling with the cost of living, they want a government tackling the cost of living.”