Corbyn: Pressure building for Scottish independence referendum

Jeremy Corbyn said he thought there was "pressure" in Scotland for a second referendum on independence

A second vote on Scottish independence will happen "in a few years", former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said.

Mr Corbyn, who stood down as leader in 2019, struggled to settle on a position on independence during his time in charge of the party.

But he told BBC Scotland he now believed a referendum was imminent as the "pressure" was there for it.

"I don't believe it's a good idea to prevent people expressing a point of view and an opinion," he said.

Mr Corbyn's position on independence appeared to shift in his time as Labour leader.

During the 2019 election campaign, he said a referendum would not happen in the early part of the parliamentary term under a Labour government, after previously saying it would not happen for the entirety of the first term of a Corbyn administration.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had told Mr Corbyn she would not help him into power unless he accepted the "principle" of a second referendum.

Whip removed

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme on Thursday, Mr Corbyn said: "I'm strongly in support of people having their voice, therefore an independence referendum is something that I believe will happen probably within a few years."

Mr Corbyn's comments come ahead of a tour of Scotland as part of an "alternative COP26" next week, run by his Peace and Justice Project.

It will include events in Glasgow and Edinburgh, focusing on the climate crisis.

Labour has removed the whip from Mr Corbyn since he stood down as leader because of his response to a report on anti-semitism within the party.

A spokesman for Scottish Labour said: "Mr Corbyn is not a sitting Labour MP and private citizens are entitled to their views on a range of issues."