The SNP’s depute leader told activists there would be a new push for independence if Westminster refused to deliver devo max, it has emerged.
Stewart Hosie said a veto on full fiscal autonomy by the UK parties would constitute a “gamechanger” and open the door to a fresh vote on the constitution.
He made the comments in a video flagged up by Scottish Labour.
The party said that he had “given the game away” after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week told The Courier she would know in her gut whether or not to include another referendum in her 2016 Holyrood manifesto.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said: “Nicola Sturgeon says it’s not about another referendum but Stewart Hosie, when he’s talking to SNP supporters, says the absolute opposite.
“He’s given the game away. That’s the plan.
“That is what it’s all about. We know the plan. It’s for SNP MPs to demand things that they know Labour would never deliver, like the end of the Barnett Formula, the end of UK pensions.
“And then if we won’t sign up to full fiscal autonomy, which we won’t, they will say: ‘They betrayed us, let’s have another referendum.’
“That’s the SNP plan.”
In the video from last October, Mr Hosie points to polls which suggested 25% No voters expected devolution of everything from defence and foreign affairs to the Scottish Parliament.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ieyiwnbTd7Q%3Frel%3D0
“It is that we will hold Westminster to,” he tells the audience.
“You see we expect them to disappoint us, but when they start to disappoint substantial numbers of people who voted No, then there’s a game-changer for what happens on the road to independence.”
In response to Mr Balls’ claims, Dundee East candidate Mr Hosie told The Courier the statement, made when he was campaigning to become depute leader, was consistent with the SNP’s message that something significant would need to change before another referendum was proposed.
He said: “This election is not about independence. This election is not a rerun of the referendum.
“The SNP is not seeking a mandate for another referendum but clearly Westminster has to deliver and if they don’t the public might change their mind.”
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, who joined Mr Balls in Glasgow, said the SNP “plan to use this general election to stoke up discontent and division so they can push for a second referendum.”
He added: “They would consign Scotland to years of deepening division while the needs and priorities of working class Scots are set aside for another day, another year or indeed another generation.
“SNP MPs will be working every day for another referendum, rather than working hard for working Scots.
“That’s the choice we now face in just 10 days. A party that exists to build a fairer economy, or a party that exists to hold another referendum.”