EDINBURGH : Britain's main opposition Labour Party will oppose a fresh vote on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, Scottish Labour's leader Richard Leonard said on Monday, potentially benefiting its political rivals.
"There is no case for a second
independence referendum," Leonard told the BBC, adding that Scots had rejected breaking from the United Kingdom by 55 to 45 per cent in a 2014 vote.
The Labour position could upset voters who are undecided on independence or believe the wishes of
Scotland's devolved assembly where the pro-independence
Scottish National Party (SNP) is the largest party should be respected.
Labour used to be the most dominant party in Scotland but the (SNP) now holds 35 of the 59 Scottish seats in the UK parliament. To win a majority from Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives, Labour would probably need to recapture many of these.
Labour's national leader
Jeremy Corbyn last week said he would "decide at the time" whether a future Labour government would allow a vote on secession, which needs the backing of the UK parliament, to go ahead.
Richard Leonardo Labour party leader (Reuters)
