No independence referendum in next Holyrood term if SNP win, says Sarwar
The next term of the Holyrood parliament should be geared towards issues like the NHS rather than independence, the Scottish Labour leader said.
There will not be an independence referendum within the term of the next Holyrood parliament even if the SNP maintains power, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said.
Polls have shifted markedly in recent months ahead of next year’s Scottish Parliament election, moving from predicting a Labour lead to suggesting the party could instead suffer its worst result since devolution.
However, if the SNP wins again in 2026 and a pro-independence majority returns to Holyrood, the UK Government still will not grant an independence referendum, Mr Sarwar said.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show on the final day of his party’s conference in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said Scottish Labour would “prove the pollsters wrong” in 2026 and win the election.
He added there would be “no independence referendum in the term of the next parliament” and that other issues should take priority.
“We believe the focus of the next parliament has to be clearing those NHS backlogs. Having that national emergency, the focus has got to be stopping the government’s addiction to waste.”
Labour will fight to “win the trust of the people of Scotland” and win the election, he said, adding: “On the issue of the referendum, people will see over the course of the last four years, I’m not going to turn my back on any Scot in terms of how we build that case for a stronger, better Scotland,” he said.
“We might ultimately disagree on the final destination for Scotland: I don’t support an independence referendum, I don’t support independence. That will be the position in our manifesto.”
Responding to the comments, SNP MSP Stuart McMillan said: “It is not for Anas Sarwar, Sir Keir Starmer or the Labour Party to determine the future of Scotland, that power is fully in the hands of the people of Scotland.
“The SNP will continue to set out a better alternative, demonstrating how independence can allow us to properly tackle the challenges facing people in Scotland and build a better, fairer, more prosperous society for everyone.”
