Scottish Labour have once again changed their stance on a referendum on Scottish self-determination. After assuring the Scottish National Party (SNP) that they would not block an early referendum, it now seems that English Labour’s opinion matters more. Scottish Labour leader, Wendy Alexander, announced on Tuesday that her party will no longer vote for a referendum on independence.

It will now be more difficult for the SNP, led by First Minister Alex Salmond, to achieve a parliamentary majority in favour of a referendum. The SNP, the largest party in Holyrood with 48 seats, will need to attract supporters – or at least find MSPs willing to abstain from the vote – among the 129 MSPs.

Labour is facing the consequences of its latest series of U-turns. The Conservatives, Labour’s main rivals in the United Kingdom, have claimed that Labour’s hesitation “is putting the Union at risk”. And in the Scottish Parliament, SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon accused Alexander of “trying to pretend last week never happened”, saying that the “ludicrous series of U-turns have left Labour turned inside-out”.

Meanwhile, Alex Salmond announced this week that the SNP will launch its independence referendum bill on 25 January 2010, the birthday of Scotland’s “national poet”, Robert Burns. The Scotsmanquoted Salmond as saying that “it would give more than enough time to get the bill through” before “a decision by the people, in the autumn of that year”.

Further information:

• Scotsman: Labour MSPs force Wendy into another U-turn on referendum
  
• Daily Record: Humiliating referendum U-turn for Wendy Alexander
  
• Scotsman: Salmond targets Burns' Day for independence launch
  
• Nationalia: SNP ‘delighted’ with Labour’s referendum proposal
  

See Scotland profile for further information.