Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish Labour leader says nationalism is a virus

Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont addresses the conference in Brighton.
Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont addresses the conference in Brighton.

The SNP behaves like a “reckless opposition” and refuses to take responsibility in the quest for independence, according to Scottish Labour’s leader.

Johann Lamont also described nationalism as “a virus . . . that never achieved anything” in a phrase that appeared to allude to the European 20th century fascist movement.

She stressed her party’s role in the creation of devolution in Scotland to the Labour Party conference in Brighton.

Ms Lamont said: “When they (the SNP) see the policies driven by the coalition of austerity, of the ‘bedroom tax’, what do they say? Do they see the affront to families across the UK?

“No, they see they see a political opportunity.

“For the Nationalists the misery of the people isn’t a wrong to be corrected, it is a chance to be exploited. For them grievance is not to be addressed it is to be nurtured.

“And that cynicism, that calculation which leaves families suffering now is a price worth paying if it translates into votes next September.”

She added: “But how much more frustrating is it in Scotland when the government behaves like a reckless opposition, refusing to take responsibility, happy to take the credit and energetic in blaming others.”

Ms Lamont said the debate was not “Scotland versus the Tories”, as she claimed the SNP were trying to make it out to be.

She said: “Scotland does not agree with Alex Salmond and if we work hard over the next year it will become increasingly clear this is Scotland versus Salmond and Scotland is going to win.”

An SNP spokesman said: “These are ignorant, offensive and distasteful comments from Johann Lamont that have no place in the debate on Scotland’s future, and are completely at odds with the No campaign’s professed desire for a positive debate free from abuse.”