Gordon Brown: Scottish independence could cause '50 years of conflict'

Gordon Brown says he fears ’50 years of conflict’ between Scotland and England if Nicola Sturgeon secures independence as the ex-PM warns there is ‘no future in neighbouring nations fighting each other’

  • Ex-PM Gordon Brown said ‘no future in neighbouring nations fighting each other’
  • Said he fears ’50 years of conflict’ between independent Scotland and England 
  • He said Labour must show it is the ‘party of social justice’ to win back support 

Gordon Brown today said he fears there could be ’50 years of conflict’ between Scotland and England if Nicola Sturgeon wins her push for independence. 

The former prime minister said he believes there is ‘no future in neighbouring nations fighting each other’. 

Mr Brown said Labour must demonstrate to voters in Scotland that it is the ‘party of solidarity’ if it is to repair its reputation and bounce back at the ballot box after a period of sustained decline. 

Gordon Brown today said he fears there could be ’50 years of conflict’ between Scotland and England if Nicola Sturgeon wins her push for independence 

Ms Sturgeon told Boris Johnson after the SNP’s election victory last month that she believes a re-run of the 2014 independence vote is ‘a matter of when – not if’

Scotland used to be an electoral fortress for the Labour Party but it has steadily lost its power base north of the border. 

Deteriorating support for the party has coincided with a surge in support for the SNP. 

Ms Sturgeon’s party fell one seat short of securing an overall majority at the Holyrood elections in May while Labour slumped to just 22 seats.

Mr Brown was asked this morning what he believes Labour should be doing to restore its status in Scotland. 

He told Sky News: ‘Well, we’ve got to show we are both the party of social justice and that the Scottish National Party are not delivering that, despite all their promises, and we are the party of solidarity. 

‘In this interdependent world, there is no future in nations that are neighbouring nations fighting each other and I fear 50 years of conflict between Scotland and England if we don’t get these problems sorted out.

‘So we have got to be the party of solidarity, of talking about empathy, reciprocity, cooperation and sharing. 

‘Of course, we found during the vaccination effort that when we cooperate, we get things done.

‘British pre-purchasing, Scottish delivery in Scotland of the vaccine, now that’s a way forward on health but it’s a way forward on climate change which cannot be solved without countries working together and the recovery, where jobs are going to be needed to be created and we need all the resources of the United Kingdom in every part of the United Kingdom for it to work.’

Ms Sturgeon told Boris Johnson after the SNP’s election victory last month that she believes a re-run of the 2014 independence vote is ‘a matter of when – not if’. 

Mr Johnson has repeatedly resisted calls to grant permission for another border poll, insisting the first vote was supposed to be a once in a generation event.  

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