An indyref2 for a Final Say on Brexit? It’s a perfectly fair swap

Editorial: It could be disastrous for Labour. But it would be putting democracy first

(PA)

Who speaks for Labour in Scotland? Is it the Yorkshireman Richard Leonard, leader of the party in Scotland? Or is it the Liverpudlian shadow chancellor John McDonnell? Or perhaps the leader of the party himself, Jeremy Corbyn, born in Chippenham, and the archetypal modern Islingtonian?

It matters a good deal, because the party has to decide if, when and how it would grant permission for a second referendum on independence to Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. She has said she wants one before May 2021, and ideally in the latter half of next year. Boris Johnson is unlikely to back it. Whether Labour would seems to depend on who you ask.

Mr Leonard, as with his predecessors, bitterly opposes indyref2, as it is called, partly because of the aversion to nationalism, partly because the Scottish Labour Party might be redundant. Mr McDonnell and Mr Corbyn, with an eye to a possible arrangement with the SNP in the House of Commons, sound more easy-going about the prospect. Mr McDonnell said as much at the Edinburgh Festival, so at least he had the good manners to stick his oar in when he was north of the border.