NICOLA Sturgeon has warned Jeremy Corbyn that he will be turning his back on government if he stands in the way of indyref2.
Her comments urging the veteran left winger to respect decisions made in Holyrood, came as senior figures in the Labour party claimed the SNP currently had no mandate for a new vote.
Both Scottish party chief Richard Leonard, and former MP and Westminster hopeful Paul Sweeney, said Sturgeon would only have the right to call for a second referendum if a majority of pro-independence MSPs were returned to Holyrood in 2021.
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The SNP say their success at the Scottish Parliament election in 2016, the General Election in 2017 and the European Parliament election this year, give them a “clear mandate.”
During a phone-in on radio station Clyde 2 on Sunday, Leonard said Corbyn would “say no” to any request for a Section 30 order before the end of the year.
He told listeners: “The SNP doesn’t have a mandate for a second independence referendum. We are saying that we oppose the creation of a separate Scottish state.
“We oppose independence and we therefore are opposed to the holding of a second referendum.”
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Leonard went on to say that the “battle” over the holding of another referendum would be “won or lost in Scotland”, during the Holyrood elections in 2021 or beyond.
He added: “If as a result of those elections, as there was in 2011, there was an overwhelming majority and a clear demonstration of support for a party that was in favour of holding a second independence referendum, then Jeremy Corbyn has said a UK Government will not block it.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Marr show, Sturgeon, who wants to hold indyref2 next year, and will write to whoever is Prime Minister before Christmas to request a Section 30 order, said Corbyn would have questions to answer, if her didn’t give in to her party’s demands.
However, the First Minister accepted that the polls suggested it would be Boris Johnson rather than the Labour leader forming the government on Friday.
Sturgeon told Marr: “We won’t put the Conservatives into government, but Labour would then have to get support to get their policies through.
“I would be offering that support.
“I don’t believe Labour, if against all the odds and what the opinion polls say, they get into a position to govern and implement their manifesto, they would turn their backs on that.
“My view here is that they should think about that prospect and imagine that on Friday Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are in a position of being able to form a government, I don’t think they’re going to turn their backs on that.
“If they do, I think they’ve got some big explaining to do.”
She added: “I’m not asking Labour to support independence, I’m not even asking Labour to think there should be a second independence referendum, I’m making the reasonable request that they respect the principle, which is if there is a referendum and the timing of that referendum should not be matters for Westminster, it should be for the Scottish people and parliament to decide.”
Meanwhile, Sweeney, speaking on Sunday Politics Scotland, said the Labour Party would not “stand in the way” of a second referendum if independence-supporting parties return a majority to Holyrood in 2021.
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said Sweeney’s comments were confirmation of a deal between the two parties: “Paul Sweeney has set it out in black and white.”
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