Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will rule out any prospect of a “progressive alliance” with the SNP when he visits Scotland later this week, according to a key ally.
Neil Findlay MSP, chair of the Scottish Labour for Jeremy campaign, said he expected Mr Corbyn to dismiss the suggestion during a series of events north of the border.
Islington North MP Mr Corbyn is due to meet leadership challenger Owen Smith for a hustings debate in Glasgow on Thursday before travelling to Edinburgh and Dundee to give speeches.
His visit to Scotland follows comments made by Shadow Scottish Secretary and Blaydon MP Dave Anderson that Labour should consider a coalition with the SNP to prevent another Conservative victory at the next general election.
But Mr Findlay told the Herald newspaper: “There will be no progressive alliance with the SNP and I’m expecting Jeremy Corbyn to rule that out this week.
“I don’t think the SNP will be able to take any comfort from a Jeremy Corbyn victory. It will be made clear there will be no progressive alliance with the SNP.
“The SNP does not act progressively in government, but seeks to talk progressively at Westminster where it has no power.
“Providing a credible and socialist radical alternative to nationalism is what Jeremy is all about and we will be making an appeal to the people of Scotland on that basis.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who has backed Mr Smith for the leadership, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “Dave Anderson made comments during the summer that he, I think, now regrets.
“It certainly doesn’t represent the position of the Scottish Labour Party and, looking at the front page of the Herald this morning, it doesn’t represent what Jeremy Corbyn thinks either, so I think that argument is best left in the past.”
Pressed on whether she was finding out about Mr Corbyn’s policy by reading newspapers, she said: “I speak to Jeremy Corbyn all the time.
“Despite the febrile nature of this contest, we are still very much in touch and speak regularly about the big issues of the day.”
