RICHARD Leonard has repeatedly refused to endorse Labour’s only Scottish MP in his bid to become the deputy leader of the UK party.

The Scottish Labour leader conspicuously failed to support Ian Murray for the position in a TV interview, underlining the left-right split dogging the party.

Mr Murray has been a vociferous critic of Jeremy Corbyn, while Mr Leonard has been an equally staunch supporter of the outgoing Labour leader.

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The MP for Edinburgh South, Mr Murray was the only one of 41 Labour MPs in Scotland to to survive the SNP tsunami of the 2015 general election.

In December, he was again the party’s only hold, as the six other Labour MPs in Scotland lost their seats.

Despite his record of electoral success, Mr Leonard, who has refused to endorse any candidate for the UK Labour leadership, refused to endorse him on Politics Scotland.

Referring to his self-denying ordinance on the UK leadership, He said: “No, the same applies. There are a good range of candidates who are standing to be the deputy leader of the Labour party.”

Pressed on the point, he said: “Look, Ian is a very, very competent candidate who is saying some interesting things, whether it’s around the Scottish constitutional question, where the Labour party needs to be, the need for a long-term vision.

“But the other candidates are also setting out their stall as well, so I’m not going to come out and publicly back one candidate or the other.”

Asked why not, given Mr Murray was his only MP in Scotland and was standing to represent Scotland better inside the party, Mr Leonard said: “I’m not going to make a public declaration about which candidate for leader or which candidate for deputy leader I’m backing, because I will need to work with whoever is elected.”

Pressed yet again, Mr Leonard said: “In the end it’s a political choice for members of the Labour party to make across the whole of the UK and they will exercise that right and make that choice about who they think is the best leadership team to help lead us towards the next general election.”

A source close to Mr Murray said: “Ian has entered the deputy leadership race to ensure Scotland’s voice is amplified and the issues in Scotland are well understood by all. That’s why he has already gained the support of the majority of CLPs in Scotland that have nominated. He’s doing all he can to try and help the Labour Party in Scotland so that should be welcomed by Richard.”

Mr Leonard also restated his position, first set out in the general election, that an SNP majority in the 2021 Holyrood election would justify a second independence referendum.

Asked about Scotland's biggest public sector union, Unison, voting on Saturday in support of Holyrood having the power to call Indyref2 when it wanted, Mr Leonard said it showed some people had been "driven to despair" by the Tories.

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Unison Scotland said it would now promote the issue at the STUC congress in April.

The motion put to members stated Unison "supports the call for a second referendum, at a time to be determined by the Scottish Parliament, by means of either a section 30 order or an amendment to the Scotland Act as a satisfactory means of transferring the power over independence referendums".

Mr Leonard said: “I understand completely, given the prospect of five more years of a Boris Johnson government, why some people are driven to anger and some people are driven to despair.

“So I understand and we will listen to Unison, who are an important part not just of the Labour movement but of the Labour party.

“We will listen to the reasons why their members... reached that conclusion.

“But I’m bound to say that the prospectus for independence put forward by the SNP and their Growth Commission report is one fo a very hard dose of austerity which would lead to cuts in public services that Unison and other public sector trade union members work in.

“Even among those people who support independence, there is very little appetite for a referendum to be called in the very near future.”

He admitted that Sir Keir Starmer, the favourite in the UK Labour leadership race, had not consulted him before giving his personal position on Indyref2 last week.

The Shadow Brexit Secretary had said an SNP majority win in the 2021 Holyrood election would constitute a mandate for another vote.

Mr Leonard said: “It shouldn’t be for the politicians from other parts of the UK to pronounce on these issue,. The decision on this question, of all questions, needs to be made in Scotland by the Scottish Labour party.”