Sadiq Khan tones down attack on Scottish nationalism

Sadiq Khan has qualified his attacks on Scottish nationalism after provoking a torrent of criticism for claiming it was equivalent to racism and bigotry.

The London mayor amended a controversial speech to Scottish Labour’s spring conference asserting there “was no difference” between those who wanted to divide Scottish and English people and the divisions sought by racist or religious bigots.

His remarks, released 14 hours before his speech on Saturday, provoked a furious response from Scottish independence campaigners and the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, an erstwhile ally in Khan’s campaign against leaving the EU.

Many independence campaigners insist their cause is multicultural, inclusive and non-sectarian, although pro-UK politicians retort that anti-English sentiment is part of the nationalist movement, as is hostility to the EU. About a third of SNP supporters voted leave in June’s EU referendum.

Criticism of Khan’s remarks erupted on social media, with some Labour figures questioning his language.

Sturgeon tweeted:

Khan initially stood by his advance text, which won open support from Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour MSP and son of the UK’s first Muslim MP, Mohammad Sarwar, and other senior Labour figures such as Douglas Alexander, the former international development secretary.

Sarwar challenged Sturgeon by tweeting:

Humza Yousaf, the pro-independence Scottish transport minister and Holyrood’s first Muslim minister, retorted:

Khan’s revised speech used a more qualified phrase, which said dividing Scots from the English was akin to those who used race or religion only in the sense it pitted one part of the country against another.

He added the new paragraph: “Now of course I’m not saying that nationalists are somehow racist or bigoted – but now, more than ever, what we don’t need is more division and separation. Now is the time to build unity.”

His clarification won applause from Scottish Labour delegates, but the row overshadowed announcements on Labour’s new anti-referendum campaign and a new policy to top up child benefits in a keynote speech from party leader Kezia Dugdale.

Dugdale has launched a new website, TogetherStronger.scot, to protest against Sturgeon’s threats of a second independence referendum within the next two years if the UK government refuses to support special access to the EU single market for Scotland after Brexit.

Dugdale said a majority of Scottish voters were opposed to a another referendum in the near future, but the SNP and the pro-independence Scottish Greens had a large enough majority at Holyrood to push one through. “Instead of exploiting division, we want people across Scotland to share our vision of an open, tolerant and outward-looking Scotland,” she said.

After being introduced by Khan, Dugdale implied she endorsed his attacks on nationalism. She cited the London mayor’s victory against “a Tory smear campaign of racism, intolerance, bigotry and Islamophobia”. London, she added, had been called “dark star” by Alex Salmond, Sturgeon’s predecessor as SNP leader.

The row also distracted attention from Dugdale’s success in winning support from both Khan and Tom Watson, UK Labour’s deputy leader, for her campaign to set up a “people’s convention” to radically reform the UK’s constitution.

Scottish Labour formally adopted Dugdale’s policy of pressing for the UK to be restructured as a federation on Friday. She announced after her speech that Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, would take part in a summit of Labour leaders from across the UK to set up that convention.

A long-standing supporter for increased English devolution, Watson added momentum to the proposal by telling conference delegates that decentralising political power across the UK would be an antidote to the alienation that drove many voters to support leaving the EU.

“Power should reside at the level best able to effect change,” he said. “The political argument is as valid in England as it is in Scotland. We have to start talking about radical devolution of power to England’s towns and cities.

“In fact, I’m not sure we’ll ever win back votes in Scotland until people are reassured about our commitment to reducing the influence of Westminster.”