THE Shadow Scottish Secretary had been branded “clueless” after demanding the UK government publish a key list of Brexit powers after it had already done so.
Lesley Laird used her address to the Scottish Labour conference in Dundee to demand “transparency” about the powers at the heart of a dispute between London and Edinburgh.
The Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath MP told delegates people would only be able to judge how to negotiate an end to the current cross-border deadlock once the areas of conflict were known.
“We need the shroud of secrecy lifted by the Scottish and UK Government,” she said.
“What are the actual issues that will affect people’s lives that they [the SNP] are so anxious to make a quarrel about?
“Let’s have some transparency about what exactly the outstanding issues actually are.
“And then let’s get on with sorting them out - in the open - free of grandstanding and focused solely on what is best for Scotland - rather than what the Nationalists think is best for them.”
However the UK government had published the list of 24 contested powers more than two hours before she spoke, and the Scottish Government had already responded.
SNP MSP George Adam: "Labour are going from bad to worse.
"To have a Shadow Scottish Secretary so completely clueless on one of the biggest issues facing the country would be laughable if what was at stake wasn't so important.
"Labour have demonstrated on too many occasions that they are unfit for opposition, let alone for government.”
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