Former Chancellor and Labour MP for Edinburgh South West, Alistair Darling, has written to voters warning of the choice between recovery or referendum.
Lord Darling has written to thousands of voters across Scotland urging them to back Scottish Labour with their second vote, explaining the election is a choice between a parliament focused on recovery or a referendum.
The letter is particularly targeted at voters in Conservative-held seats, with Mr Darling warning that ‘voting Conservative with your second vote won’t help stop the SNP’.
The former Labour Chancellor and leader of the No campaign in 2014 wrote: “If you want a country focused on what unites us, not what divides us, please use your second vote on the peach ballot paper for Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour’s national recovery plan.”
The full letter from Alistair Darling:
In 2014, I led the positive campaign for Scotland’s future in the UK. We won the referendum, but the SNP has continued its divisive campaign which is so damaging to our country.
This Thursday, you have two votes in the Scottish Parliament election. Every vote the SNP receives it will claim is a vote for another referendum – even though we know this is not a priority for most Scots. We can take the threat of another referendum off the table by preventing an SNP majority in the Parliament.
The only way to stop an SNP majority is by voting Scottish Labour with your second vote – on the peach ballot paper.
Anas Sarwar shares your priorities. His uplifting election campaign has focused on a national recovery plan for Scotland, not re-running the arguments from 2014. He opposes independence and he opposes a second referendum. He will put the NHS, jobs, education, climate and communities first. With a strong group of Labour MSPs behind him, he can spend the next five years standing up for a united Scotland and standing up to the SNP, keeping Nicola Sturgeon focused on recovery – not a referendum.
In your seat, voting Conservative with your second vote won’t help stop the SNP. Only a vote for Scottish Labour will do that. You may not have voted Labour in the past, or you may have left us in recent years, but under Anas Sarwar’s leadership we have changed.
If you want a country focused on what unites us, not what divides us, please use your second vote on the peach ballot paper for Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour’s national recovery plan.
Best wishes,
Alistair DarlingFormer Labour Chancellor and leader of the No campaign.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
