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Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out the possibility of supporting a second referendum on Scottish independence in the long term.
But he told the BBC that a vote like the one that took place in 2014 was “not necessary” anytime soon and that it should focus on “rebuilding” the economy and services after the coronavirus.
His party would not campaign for a referendum in the Scottish Parliament elections next May, he added.
The SNP government in Scotland wants to hold one as soon as possible.
In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Sir Keir also said that Labor would “betray” the voters “if we don’t take winning elections and changing lives more seriously.”
And he argued that Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not have “the right character” to face the challenges posed by the pandemic.
When Scottish voters were asked in a 2014 referendum whether the country should go independent, 55% said no.
But the SNP has campaigned for a second poll since the UK’s decision in 2016, in the Brexit referendum, to leave the EU.
He says that the difference between the result for the whole of the United Kingdom and that of Scotland, which chose between 62% and 38% to remain within the bloc, strengthens the case for independence.
It has also been suggested that after the upcoming UK general election, scheduled for 2024, Labor might need SNP support if they want to form a government. This could, it is added, require an agreement on the holding of another referendum.
Sir Keir said: “We are going to go to those elections in May making it very clear that another divisive referendum on independence in Scotland is not what is needed.
“What is needed is an intense focus on rebuilding the economy, making sure public services are rebuilt as well, and dealing with the pandemic.”
‘Hypothetical’
Pressed on what would happen after May, Sir Keir said: “We don’t know … In politics, people tell you with great certainty what will happen next year and the year after, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.”
He added: “I am making the argument we will make in May. I am not making a hypothesis of what will happen after that.”
The Scottish government, led by Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, hoped to hold an independence referendum during the current term of the Scottish Parliament.
However, the ministers wanted to secure a deal with the UK government to make sure any vote was legally airtight, something to which Johnson has repeatedly stated his opposition.
Work on preparations for a vote stopped after the coronavirus, but the Scottish government has promised to lay out plans in a bill.
Labor, once dominant in Scotland, currently has 23 members of the Scottish Parliament, placing it third behind the SNP, with 61, and the Conservatives, with 31.
Union concerns
Sir Keir replaced Jeremy Corbyn as Labor leader in April, following the party’s worst general election result, in terms of seats, since 1935.
Recent opinion polls in the UK have suggested that support for the party under his leadership now approaches that of Johnson’s Conservatives.
But some unions, including Unite and the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), have raised concerns about Sir Keir’s leadership.
The FBU has warned you not to “water down” the promises about worker rights and the environment you made when you applied for the job.
In his speech Monday at Labor’s annual conference, Sir Keir told his party to “take victory seriously.”
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, he said: “When you lose four elections in a row, you have lost the opportunity to change lives for the better and we have gifted the Conservatives a decade or more of power. That is not what the Labor Party is there for. “
He also said: “The historic mission of the Labor Party was to represent workers in Parliament and form governments to change lives, and we will betray it if we don’t take winning elections and changing lives more seriously.”
Sir Keir is due to make a televised speech at 8pm, in response to the prime minister’s statement on Tuesday on new government measures against the coronavirus for England.
