Scotland has right to decide constitutional future, new Scottish Labour leader says

The new leader of Scottish Labour has backed the country's right to decide its constitutional future.

Michael Marra supported that position in a non-binding vote at Holyrood, though Labour remains opposed to independence and another referendum.

Marra told parliament there had "always" been a route to a referendum - but said the government had failed to build an "overwhelming" case for it.

First Minister John Swinney insisted that a majority of pro-independence MSPs represented a mandate for a referendum - though Prime Minister Andy Burnham has insisted such a vote is "off limits".

The SNP leader tabled a motion at Holyrood stating: "Scotland is a nation that has a right to decide its own future."

It was passed with the support of Green and Labour MSPs and opposed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Reform's group walked out of the debate, with leader Malcolm Offord describing it as an insult and a waste of time.

A Labour amendment, which retained Swinney's statement but added that efforts should be stepped up to tackle child poverty, was passed by parliament.

During the debate, Marra said there had "always been a route to another referendum", telling MSPs: "Build a case through honest deliberation and careful compromise to allow the prosecution of the argument.

"Build a consensus – the settled will of the Scottish people – and make it overwhelming."

But he said that the SNP had failed to answer key question from the 2014 debate, including on currency and borders.

The Scottish Labour leader told parliament that was "because it's easier and more immediately useful to manufacture grievance than it is to build consensus".

He added that instead of the parliament "dividing itself along constitutional lines", it should "work together to recommit ourselves to work to lift children out of poverty".

Marra has proposed setting up a cross-party commission to ensure the country meets its child poverty targets.

Swinney told parliament that his motion was a "vital question to debate".

He cited comments from Burnham, who said earlier this month that a second referendum would be considered if there was a clear consensus and public opinion had changed.

However, the prime minister later sought to clarify his position, insisting no consensus existed and that a referendum was off limits while he focuses on the economy and easing the cost of living.

Swinney insisted that for the first time since 2014 a prime minister had acknowledged "the principle that Scotland should have a referendum when it is likely that people would vote for independence".

He said UK government opposition to a second referendum was "unsustainable" when the Scottish Parliament had the largest pro-independence majority in its history.

Opposition MSPs noted that Swinney had said before May's Holyrood election that an SNP majority was the best way to secure a mandate for an independence referendum.

The party fell short of that target, but the SNP and Greens ended up with 73 MSPs, increasing the pro-independence majority by one.

Yet the proportion of voters who backed pro-independence parties fell significantly to about 41%, down from about 50% in 2021.

While Marra's predecessor Anas Sarwar previously said that Scotland had the right to decide its own future, he consistently voted against any parliamentary motions that sought to assert that right and he criticised the SNP's "obsession" with independence.

The Scottish Parliament has backed several non-binding motions in support of a referendum in recent years, with Swinney aiming to hold a second vote within the next five years.

However, successive UK governments have refused to countenance a referendum.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the Scottish Parliament cannot hold an independence referendum without Westminster's consent.