Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown turned his ire on the Tories and SNP at a rally in Fife on Saturday morning – suggesting their “divisive nationalisms” would do the country no good whatsoever.
Speaking in his home town of Kirkcaldy, Mr Brown maintained it was only the Labour party that wanted Scotland to stay in both Britain and Europe and urged voters to bear that in mind when they vote in December 12’s General Election.
“The SNP will tell you ‘vote SNP to stop Brexit’, but the day after the election they’ll tell you that everyone who voted for the SNP voted for separation and independence,” he said.
“The Conservatives will tell you ‘vote Conservative to stop independence’, but make no mistake about it, the day after the election, they will say that everybody who voted Conservative in Scotland were voting for Brexit.
“The only way you can vote against Brexit and independence is by voting for Labour.”
Mr Brown went on to suggest Mr Johnson was out of touch with hard-working people and did not deserve to prolong his stay in Number 10.
He continued: “He gave an interview and he said he’s liked to go back to Downing Street – I know the place well – and drink a bottle of wine.
“They said: ‘What’s your favourite bottle of wine?’. And he said it cost £180.
“Most of us will never see a bottle of wine more than a few pounds.
“The cost of a bottle of wine, £180, drunk in a few hours, when there are families in this constituency and across the whole country who are having to feed, clothe and provide housing accommodation and all basic essentials for their children on far less than £180 for one week.
“And this is the person who claims to be the One Nation Conservative speaking for all of us as working people.”
Mr Brown also referred to a recent survey in which 55% of Scots surveyed described Mr Johnson as a “buffoon”.
“It’s almost embarrassing to have to say it about this man, but this is what we are up against and it must make us determined to defeat someone like him,” he told activists.
With the SNP eyeing a clean sweep of the four Fife constituencies next month, Mr Brown also claimed the SNP was “not telling the truth about the economics of independence”.
“By Nicola Sturgeon’s own logic, if leaving Europe costs 100,000 jobs, it could be three or four times that much if we leave the UK,” he commented.
“There’s always been a difficult relationship between Scotland and England.
“There’s always been a tension, but we have got to think about not just what’s good for economics and for jobs, for living standards, for public services.
“We’ve also got to think about the benefits of co-operation, of solidarity, of reciprocity in our country.
“What nationalism does, I’m afraid to say, is create us versus them, it creates enemies where enemies don’t need to exist, it creates resentments even if they are imagined that try to drive people into a battle between us and them.
“Brexit nationalism and Scottish nationalism divide people, and I think people want an end to this division.”
Mr Brown described the rise of child poverty to record levels across the UK as nothing short of “scandalous” – worse than during Margaret Thatcher’s time in power.
And he concluded: “In this election we must ALL speak up about the needs of the forgotten poor.
“Child poverty is a moral stain on the entire fabric of Britain – and the tragedy of a generation of children going to school ill-clad and hungry shames our nation.
“The UK is already torn apart by Brexit, divisive nationalisms, a north-south divide and the crude trolling of vulnerable people of all sides.
“We are so disunited we have lost sight of a once-compassionate, state-guaranteed safety net and seem unable to work together – even to come to the aid of vulnerable children.”
