SNP invites Burnham to party conference amid Scotland visit reports

Newspapers reported on Tuesday that the Prime Minister will travel north of the border as part of a call for Holyrood to devolve powers to councils.

The Labour leader has previously indicated support for the Parliament devolving its powers to local communities.

As part of his reported visit to Scotland, SNP depute leader Keith Brown said Mr Burnham should attend his party’s conference at the P&J Live in Aberdeen this weekend.

He said: “The SNP would like to invite Andy Burnham to SNP conference as part of his visit to Scotland.

“The British Prime Minister has agreed it is for the people of Scotland to decide our own future and there is no better time for the leader of Unionism and the leader of Scottish independence to further that basic democratic principle.

“Andy Burnham made Scottish independence the focus of his conference speech with his time in Downing Street fast becoming defined by the UK’s constitutional future – it is the central question on these islands.

“SNP conference is the perfect and natural place for Andy Burnham to set out the logical extension of his words – an agreed legal process.”

Mr Burnham has previously ruled out another referendum on Scottish independence. He said last month there was “no clear consensus” for a second vote on the union.

In his conference speech last month, he said he was determined to prove wrong the claim that he would be the UK’s last prime minister, made by Scotland’s First Minister on the day Mr Burnham’s father died.

He said he was not looking to “seek sympathy” or criticise John Swinney, before adding: “Anyway, my dad Roy would have been the first to defend his right to say it.

“I relay it because I want you to know how it made me feel. Utterly determined to prove him wrong.”

The SNP conference kicks on Thursday in Aberdeen and is the first since John Swinney’s party won the most seats at the Holyrood election in May.

On Monday, the First Minister said the push for independence had “turned a corner”.

The First Minister pointed to comments from the Prime Minister in the Commons that Scotland could have another vote on the issue should the people want it, and the agreement between the leaders of pro-independence parties in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as proof the case has moved on.

However, within hours of his comments on the issue, Mr Burnham walked his position back, reaffirming his view that Scottish independence is “off limits”, while also refusing to budge as a result of the so-called Cardiff Agreement.

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