Thread by @jonworth

After all the controversy about Nandy's Scotland / Catalonia, comments, what should a #LabourLeadership candidate actually say about Scotland?

A thread...

Note that this is not what I would do. I have my own views on independence that are not the same as the Labour Party's.

This is what the line ought to be if, like Labour, you do not want Scotland to become independent, and how to handle the issue.

The central issue is this: the two fundamental proposals from Better Together during the 2014 independence referendum have not been delivered.

Proposition 1 - that staying in the UK meant staying in the EU - is now off the table for good.

Proposition 2 - that further power would be devolved from London to Edinburgh - has not been delivered upon, nor has a process to do it been developed.

Labour ought to focus on the latter - an honest and complete effort to make devolution work better (and to put some aspects of devolution to cities/regions of England in there too) to render the case for independence weaker.

At the end of that process, a further independence referendum could be promised - independence vs. the new devolution deal.

What Labour should *not* do is suppress the problem. Assume that the issue will go away. That by just saying "no" to Scotland will mean the willingness to hold a further referendum will diminish or disappear.

Also some notion that Scotland would be happy with a more social democratic arrangement imposed by a Labour Government in London is also wrong in my view - fiscal control from London is a wrong in itself and cannot be left un-addressed.

I don't know if this sort of offer would be enough. I am not sure either Labour's commitment to either federalism, or seeking to make social democracy work from London, are credible.

But both are a better bet than hoping the Scotland issue goes away, or suppressing it.

/ends