Dugdale distances herself from London Labour and backs right of EU nationals to vote in referendum

The position puts her at odds with the interim Labour leadership at Westminster, which has not expressed support for such a widened franchise.

Scottish Labour will announce the rules for its summer leadership contest when outgoing leader Jim Murphy formally quits next month.

Murphy, who has been in post for around six months, announced his intention to resign after presiding over the loss of 39 of the party's 40 seats at the general election.

The contest is expected to pit Dugdale against Eastwood MSP Ken Macintosh, a Murphy ally considered to be on the right of the party.

In a speech to the Scottish Fabians in Glasgow yesterday, Dugdale spelled out her support for almost 1 million EU nationals to participate in the in/out referendum, which will take place before the end of 2017.

The Tory Government's legislation excludes this category of voter, but gives Irish and Commonwealth citizens based in the UK a say.

In the House of Commons, Labour said they would support the referendum bill and promised to table amendments allowing 16 and 17 year olds to take part. The party did not say it backed giving EU nationals a vote.

However, Dugdale said: "When we had our referendum in September, just under 90,000 EU nationals registered to take part and it was the better for it.

"Put simply, I believe EU nationals who have chosen to live their life here, and make the UK their home, should have the right to vote in a referendum on the future of the country.

"EU nationals make important contributions to our communities, and to our economy."

She added: "We as a country benefit from the free movement of people across Europe, and we should not continue to enjoy this freedom while restricting political participation.

"Voting rights are a matter of democratic principle, and I strongly feel it is unfair to exclude EU nationals from a fundamental referendum."

A source close to Dugdale said the MSP had sent a "clear signal" that she was "not afraid" to take a different position to the UK party.

Scottish Labour has suffered from a perception that the leadership in London has controlled policy and hiring decisions north of the border.

When previous leader Johann Lamont quit the leadership last year, she accused the UK party of treating the Scottish organisation as a "branch office" by effectively getting rid of her general secretary.

The new general secretary, Brian Roy, was rumoured to be leaving his post following the election defeat, but a party spokesman issued a strong denial yesterday: "This is categorically untrue. The Scottish Labour Party has a huge amount of rebuilding to do and Brian Roy will be a big part of that as General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party."

Murphy said he would quit as leader after making internal reform proposals to the June meeting of his party's executive.

The Executive meets on the 13th of next month, which means Murphy will be gone within a fortnight.

The party's Constitution working group will meet this week to consider whether the contest will be fought under one-member-one-vote (OMOV), or through the existing three part electoral college.

Several sources have said the party will endorse OMOV.

SNP MP Stephen Gethins said:

"I am pleased that Labour in Scotland now appear to be backing the SNP position on allowing our young people and EU nationals the right to vote. I now hope that Labour at Westminster will follow suit and join the SNP in opposing this unfair and discriminatory policy."

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "Had it been left to Labour politicians, the franchise for this referendum would have been absolutely no one because Labour was planning to block the referendum from even taking place."

"The franchise for the referendum is based on the General Election franchise. That means Irish, Maltese and Cypriots resident in the UK will get a vote, but other EU citizens won't."