Nicola Sturgeon told allies that Kezia Dugdale wanted to drop Labour’s opposition to a second independence referendum last July, The Courier can reveal.
One associate of the First Minister, not part of her staff or on the books of the SNP, said the revelation came up in conversation on July 4 last year.
Scottish Labour leader Ms Dugdale has branded Ms Sturgeon’s claim, made during the final STV leaders’ debate before Thursday’s general election, a “categoric lie” and the First Minister’s office has conceded that no recording or or memo was taken at of the conversation at Bute House.
Any suggestion that I ever said to Sturgeon that I'd change Labour's position on #indyref2 is a categoric lie + shows how desperate she is
— Kezia Dugdale MSP (@kezdugdale) June 6, 2017
But the source said: “She (Ms Sturgeon) told me then that Kezia had said in the call the day after the Brexit referendum that she wanted Labour to drop opposition to a second indyref.
“Nicola had no reason to make it up in a private discussion last July.”
Sources close to the First Minister also claim the discussion between the two leaders took place after Ms Sturgeon had announced she would seek another ballot on the constitution.
A Labour spokesman said: “This is a lie from Nicola Sturgeon. It is insulting and demeaning to the office of First Minister.
“It is nothing but a final act of desperation from an SNP leader who knows the public has turned against her. It shows how far she is prepared to go in the hope of electing a Tory government.”
In a rally in Glasgow, UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he does not see the “urgency or the need” for another independence referendum in Scotland.
He was asked about the issue during broadcast interviews before he took to the stage for the first of several events on the eve of the general election.
His position on a second referendum has been questioned during the campaign, despite spelling out opposition to another ballot in the party’s manifesto.
Asked about the between Ms Dugdale and Ms Sturgeon exchange, Mr Corbyn refused to be drawn, saying: “The priority is the election of a Labour government… I do not see the urgency or the need for an independence referendum.
“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.”
The Labour leader, buoyed by a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters in Buchanan Street, then took to the stage to deliver one of his final addresses before voters go to the polls.
“In Scotland tomorrow vote Labour, vote Labour to get Labour MPs elected, vote Labour so those MPs can be part of (a Labour majority), vote Labour so that we can tackle poverty and injustice all over the UK,” he said.
“I am very, very excited today, excited by the enthusiasm of our campaign, and grateful to all of you.
“On Friday, wouldn’t it be great if on Friday we woke up to a Labour majority across the country, a Labour government that will be a government for all of our communities across the whole of the country, to deliver that social justice that we all crave.”
As Mr Corbyn left Glasgow to head south for another rally, Scottish party leaders began making their final pitches to voters.
More to follow.
