Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has said she would happily share a platform with Nicola Sturgeon in the fight to keep the UK in the European Union.
Ms Dugdale said there are enough shared ambitions and too little time for the SNP leader to use the platform to promote her “negative” message that the EU referendum could be a precursor to another Scottish independence referendum.
However, Ms Dugdale said she will avoid sharing a platform with Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson – who has permitted her MSPs to campaign for an exit despite her personal view that the UK should remain in the EU.
The Labour leader said she “laughed hysterically” when Ms Davidson called her “weak” for allowing her MSPs to campaign for Scottish independence.
Ms Dugdale said: “I would be very happy to share a platform with Nicola Sturgeon on the issue of Europe. I think we would be making some, if not many, of the same or similar arguments.
“The difference is I think there is a specifically Labour case for why staying in the EU is a good thing, with a focus on social chapter rights, why it is good for workers’ rights, and pointing to some of the great successes of the past like maternity and paternity leave, the working week, and also the potential to do more of that in the future.”
Ms Sturgeon has warned that a vote to leave the EU against the majority will of the Scottish people will “almost certainly” fuel demand for another independence referendum.
Speaking after a Holyrood election campaign speech in Glasgow, Ms Dugdale told the Press Association: “Isn’t it funny how all of her speeches start with how she is going to make the positive case for Europe, and then end with the negative case for what happens if we choose to leave.
“Every speech ends with the threat of another referendum.
“I actually think that because the EU referendum is so close, a matter of weeks after the Scottish Parliament elections, we can’t waste a moment doing anything other than making the case for why the EU is a good thing for jobs in Scotland, the economy, young people, and that’s what I will be focusing on.”
She said this is “more than enough” to occupy their time on a shared platform.
However, she said she would “seek to avoid” sharing a platform with Ms Davidson – and said she has no concerns about this being used to portray the Remain camp as a disunited front.
“Process issues around who sits next to who on the platform are a sideshow to the wider and compelling arguments around why we should stay in the EU,” she said.
Commenting on Ms Davidson’s attacks on her leadership, Ms Dugdale added: “It amuses me that the Tories think that they would be a stronger alternative to the SNP when they argue that the state should do less and cut more.
“This is the same Ruth Davidson who last week voted with the SNP on the principles of their budget, and the same Tory party that opposed Labour’s tax plan which is the only credible alternative to the cuts.”