Corbyn insists he is ‘not in favour’ of another Scottish independence referendum

Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he is “not in favour” of another referendum on Scottish independence “any time soon”.

The Labour leader’s comments come after the shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the party would not “stand in the way” of a second poll.

Mr Corbyn said the first “several years” of a Labour government would see £70 billion invested into Scotland.

“At a later stage, obviously under the terms of devolution, if the Scottish Parliament demands it, then there could be, at a much later stage, a referendum.

“I make it very clear, we are against Scottish independence and we are certainly not in favour of any referendum in Scotland any time soon.”

Mr Corbyn made the comments on a visit to Crawley Hospital alongside shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth as the party gears up for the December general election.

Mr McDonald told the BBC on Wednesday that while his party did not want Scotland to split from the rest of the UK, they would not “stand in the way of a second independence referendum”.