Scottish Labour pushes indyref rejection in the wake of Tory council gains

Kezia Dugdale - Holyrood/David Anderson

Scottish Labour has moved to shore up its unionist vote in the wake of suffering losses to the Conservatives in the local elections last week.

Ruth Davidson's party campaigned for council seats on one issue, the rejection of a second Scottish independence referendum. The tactic saw her party make gains even in some of the most deprived parts of Scotland.

Today Scottish Labour will launch its general election campaign in Rutherglen, where Kezia Dugdale will call on voters to back Labour to defeat the SNP.

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Ahead of the launch she urged voters to "send Nicola Sturgeon a message" to reject a referendum on June the 8th, exactly the same line as Davidson used ahead of the council elections.

"The council elections showed people are turning away from the SNP, because they fed up with the Nationalists’ attempt to force another divisive referendum," she said.
 
“In seats like Rutherglen and Hamilton West, and in most areas across Scotland, it’s a two horse race between Labour and the SNP. The only way to stop the Nationalists is to vote Labour.
 
“The Tories are the party of the ‘rape clause’ and hard Brexit. Voting Tory doesn’t send a message to Nicola Sturgeon – it sends Theresa May back to Downing Street.
 
"Labour believes that together we're stronger when we have a government focused on the day job of investing in our economy, making work pay and building a country for the many, not the few."

The tactic marks a shift from the 2015 general election, where Labour said only they could form a UK Government and replace the Conservatives.