NICOLA Sturgeon says she stands by her explosive claim Kezia Dugdale secretly wanted Labour to drop opposition to a second independence referendum.
The First Minister made the revelation on Tuesday night in a televised debate between the Scottish party leaders.
Sturgeon claimed that on the day after the EU referendum, Dugdale told her “Labour should stop opposing a referendum.”
The allegation, described by the Spectator magazine as a “kebabbing”, led to a furious reaction from Labour, with Dugdale calling it a “categoric lie” and accusing the First Minister of “gutter politics”.
The two clashed again in a heated exchange at First Minister’s Questions, brought forward a day because of the general election.
Dugdale had to be reprimanded by Holyrood Presiding Officer Ken MacIntosh after she accused the SNP leader of telling a “fib” and not telling the truth.
Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson had opened the session asking why the First Minister did not “believe that private conversations should not stay private”.
Earlier in the day she had labelled Sturgeon a “clype”.
The SNP leader replied that it was Dugdale who had first revealed the “secret talks” in an interview with The Times on February.
“Of course, the part of the conversation that Kezia Dugdale did not refer to was the part that I spoke about last night, which I stand by 100 per cent,” Sturgeon said.
She later added: “I stand by what I said last night 100 per cent. In fact, if anybody reads what Labour and Kezia Dugdale were saying in public around that time, they will hear the ring of truth about what I said: Labour itself was saying that all options, including an independence referendum, were under consideration. That is the reality; it is on the record. There is an article on Labour’s website even today confirming that.”
Dugdale said the past 24 hours had shown “that the First Minister will say anything to deflect from the Scottish National Party’s appalling record in office.“ Sturgeon replied: “I know what was said in that conversation, and so does she. I am standing here in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament and I am certain of what was said.
“Do you know what? There is nothing whatsoever wrong with Kezia Dugdale having changed her mind since then, but what is wrong is for her, having held that view, to suggest that people who still hold that view are somehow expressing something unacceptable. That is not legitimate.”
Sturgeon’s claim will be a boon to the Tories, who are worried Scottish Labour’s recent revival in the polls could damage their election efforts in several seats where they hope to the main pro-Union challenge to the SNP in today’s vote.
Jeremy Corbyn, who was launching his frantic eve of poll campaign tour of the country in Glasgow, yesterday morning dodged questions about his Scottish leader’s position on the constitution.
“The priority is the election of a Labour government… I do not see the urgency or the need for an independence referendum,” he told media.
“What matters is an economy that works for all, protecting our pensioners, investing in our young people, and negotiating a Brexit deal that guarantees tariff-free access to the European Union and guarantees the rights of European nationals living in every part of the UK.”
Reports in the Scotsman suggest the call between the two was understood to have taken place following a press conference by the First Minister on 24 June, after she said a second referendum was “highly likely”.
The paper’s sources in the party said they did not know whether a Scottish Government civil servant was involved in the call to Dugdale’s mobile phone.
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