SNP deputy leader accused of lying in conference speech
Keith Brown said Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard supported the Leave campaign.
The deputy leader of the SNP has been accused of lying in his speech to party conference after he said Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard had supported the Leave campaign.
Keith Brown took to the stage at SNP conference in Glasgow in a combative address that claimed the Better Together campaign in the run-up to 2014's referendum was a "tissue of lies".
He highlighted Leonard's recent announcement that Labour would include in its next UK general election manifesto a commitment to blocking a second independence referendum.
Brown continued: "If Richard Leonard believes that the Leave campaign, which of course he supported, was also a tissue of lies, and that for that reason they should now go to a third (general election) vote in three years... then Labour has to get behind the democratic views of the people of Scotland."
He was referring to a Survation poll out on Monday which suggested 59% of Scottish voters believe Holyrood and not Westminster should have the final say over a second independence vote.
Scottish Labour said Brown's comment about Leonard supporting Leave was a "blatant falsehood" and demanded he retract it and apologise.
The SNP described Labour's reaction as "hysterical".
Only weeks out from the Brexit vote in June 2016, Leonard voted in favour of a resolution in the Scottish Parliament backing the Remain position.
But in February 2017, prior to becoming leader, he backed triggering Article 50 to start the Brexit process in a symbolic Holyrood vote, breaking the party whip.
Scottish Labour's parliamentary business manager Neil Findlay said: "This is a desperate lie from Keith Brown delivered from his party's conference podium.
"The SNP has run out of ideas about Scotland's future and is now resorting to clear lies.
"The SNP's deputy leader must now retract his lie and apologise.
"He should explain why he thought he could get away with such a blatant falsehood."
An SNP spokesman said: "Labour's hysterical reaction speaks volumes.
"Clearly we have hit a raw nerve, and perhaps Scottish Labour are starting to realise just how unpopular their failure to stand up against the Tories' Brexit plans is with people across Scotland and how much damage it is causing them."