LABOUR MSPs have reasserted their opposition to a second independence referendum in the current Holyrood term, in defiance of the UK leadership.

They have also invited Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell to address them in the coming weeks, in what is intedned to be a reminder of the Scottish party’s autonomy.

At an eight-hour meeting at party HQ in Glasgow, Labour’s Holyrood group also united behind Scottish leader Richard Leonard.

Mr Leonard was humiliated last week after Mr McDonnell unilaterally rewrote party policy on Indyref2 at the Edinburgh Fringe, saying a Labour government would not block it if voters and Holyrood wanted it.

It was seen as the UK leadership extending an olive branch to Nicola Sturgeon in case SNP MPs are needed to sustain a minority Labour government in London.

However the Shadow Chancellor’s comments flatly contradicted Mr Leonard’s position, and the manifesto position of Scottish Labour in 2016, which was that the party would not allow Indyref2 before 2021.

Despite fears of a blazing row, insiders said the Glasgow meeting was surprisingly positive and constructive, and that the MSPs present had backed Mr Leonard against Mr McDonnell.

Sources said the absence of left-wing MSP Neil Findlay, one of Mr Corbyn’s staunchest supporter, may have helped avoid confrontations.