Labour deputy leadership candidate Ian Murray, the party’s only remaining MP in Scotland, has spoken out in opposition of Scottish Labour becoming independent.
Murray’s comments come at a time when Labour MSP Monica Lennon suggested that Scottish Labour should break away from the main UK Labour Party after four successive general election defeats.
When asked by the BBC’s Andrew Marr whether Scottish Labour should become independent and control its own policy position, the Edinburgh South MP said: “Absolutely no”.
Murray said: "We're a UK party and I think we have to act as a UK party.
"What I would do is make sure that the parties have all the autonomy they require. The Scottish Labour Party actually has more autonomy than any other part of the UK Labour Party, but it isn't used.
"Let's use that autonomy, and that takes away any issues around becoming a separate party.
“The way to defeat nationalism in this country and to keep our UK together because our UK matters is to have a progressive centre-left Labour government at Westminster.”
Murray believes that Labour’s focus in Scotland should be on providing a realistic alternative to a Conservative government in Westminster in order to win back voters, adding that future election campaigns should be run away from London with key targeting decisions made on a regional basis.
He said: "Never again should we go into a general election campaign where it's run by London and others around the country are screaming out for resources and targeting.
"We shouldn't be having seats lost by several hundred [votes] when there are thousands of activists in seats we'll never win.”
