THE SNP has been accused of “childish hypocrisy” after one of the party's senior MPs said she does not have a problem working with Conservatives.
Joanna Cherry said she had been “working very closely” with some Tories on a second Brexit referendum, despite the Nationalists blasting Labour for campaigning with Theresa May’s party to oppose independence.
Ian Murray, the Labour MP for Edinburgh Southern, said:
“Joanna Cherry is absolutely correct. It’s grown up politics to work across party lines when you agree with others on points of principle. I’ve been working very closely with all parties on Brexit and those groups have been successful in commanding majorities on various Brexit issues in Parliament.
“However, it’s yet more duplicity from the SNP that they are happy to work with Tories when it suits their agenda but you are a traitor to Scotland if you work with other parties on the point of principle of Scottish independence. I now look forward to the SNP dropping their childish hypocrisy on these issues.”
The independence referendum was a battle between the Yes campaign and Better Together, which comprised Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats.
However, although the No side won, the SNP was effective in criticising Labour for being part of the same campaign as the Tories.
Labour strategists believe the attack line played a big role in the party nearly losing all of their seats at the subsequent general election.
Senior SNP figures continue to goad Labour about Better Together, such as when Education Secretary John Swinney took aim at Labour and the Conservatives in a Holyrood debate in 2017.
“Isn’t it revealing that, at the first available opportunity, they’ve come back together again? It’s like they’ve never had a moment apart! I would have thought, after the calamity Kezia Dugdale led the Labour party into the 2016 election, she might have learnt to have nothing to do with that lot over there.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also used her jousts with Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie to criticise his party’s coalition with the Tories between 2010 and 2015.
However, the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union has resulted in an eclectic group of politicians working together to fight for another Brexit referendum.
The SNP and the Lib Dems are in favour of a so-called “people’s vote”, as are a large number of Labour parliamentarians and a smattering of Tories, including former Attorney General Dominic Grieve.
At an anti-Brexit rally in Edinburgh last month, Cherry revealed the extent of her ties with some Tories.
“I am engaged already in a group in Parliament, which works with Tory and Labour MPs, and Plaid Cymru to try and deliver this second vote. I will continue to do that, she said.
She added: “I am working very closely with English Conservatives at the moment, in particular my friend Dominic Grieve. Dominic Grieve and I became close friends when we first worked together to fight to save the Human Rights Act, and judging from recent reports that is again Theresa May’s next target if she gets Brexit through.
“So I don’t have any problem working with Tories from time to time on issues we agree on. And at the moment, as I say, I am working closely with a group which includes people like Dominic, and Anna Soubry, and Justine Greening, for whom I have a lot of time.”
An SNP spokesperson said: "The SNP has led cross-party work to prevent disastrous Tory and Labour plans to drag Scotland out of the EU against our will.
"SNP MPs will continue to do everything they can to protect Scottish jobs and living standards from Brexit. Ian Murray should join us instead of repeatedly voting against Scotland's interests."
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