Lewis backs Scotland’s right to hold second indyref

Labour leadership candidate Clive Lewis has said that his party must not oppose Scotland’s right to hold a second independence referendum.

In an article for The National, the Norwich South MP argued that Scottish people should not be “dictated to” by English MPs on their form of government.

Lewis wrote that his party should not stand against a second referendum, and that Scottish Labour should be able to back a Yes vote.

The Labour leadership hopeful wrote: “Given the option to exit the UK, it is little wonder that so many now support independence and given the prospect of at least five years of Tory rule imposing a Brexit that Scotland did not vote for – the question of independence and a second referendum is unavoidable.”

At the general election held last month, the SNP won 45% of the vote in Scotland and secured 48 out of the 59 constituencies north of the border.

Lewis argued: “In the words of the 1989 Scottish constitutional convention, supported by Labour MPs, I believe ‘in the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs’.

“It is not for me, as an English MP for an English constituency, to dictate to Scotland what that form of government should be, and there should be no question of Labour opposing a second independence referendum if there is a mandate to hold one.”

The Norwich MP also wrote: “Nor should any English party dictate to the Scottish. Scottish Labour, like Welsh Labour, should have full autonomy from the English.”

In her pitch for the top job in Tribune, fellow leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey criticised the decision by Labour in 2014 to cooperate with the Tories in the Better Together campaign.

Jess Phillips, also running for the top job, has ruled out supporting calls for a second independence referendum in a BBC interview, commenting: “I don’t think we should have another referendum on Scottish independence – 53% of the Scottish public in the general election did not vote for a party that was promoting independence.”

The other leadership contenders have so far been quiet on Scotland and the question of backing a second independence referendum.

Lewis was the second Labour MP to declare his candidacy to be the next Labour leader with a call for electoral reform. He has been a longstanding advocate of proportional representation.

He set out his pitch to Labour colleagues in an email ahead of the parliamentary Labour party hustings on Tuesday night, in which he said: “Democracy and pluralism will be at the heart of my vision for Labour.”

The candidate has suggested that Labour would work with Green parliamentarians on a cross-party green new deal project, if he wins.

Lewis was broadly supportive of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership before the election but quit the shadow cabinet in 2017 to vote against triggering Article 50.

In a BBC interview on Wednesday morning, he was asked to rate Corbyn out of ten – after Rebecca Long-Bailey gave him full marks – and he replied that he would give him “maybe a six”.

The Norwich South MP said that mistakes were made in terms of the way the leader handled Brexit, antisemitism and election planning.

Lewis was first elected to parliament in 2015, after having previously worked as a BBC journalist and served as a British army officer.