Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is to reveal an alternative to independence as a pitch for Scotland's future in a speech later today. 

The party is expected to counter the SNP's independence route with a series of papers on how it expects to "deliver the reform that our politics needs" and "unite our country". 

It comes after Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her route map towards a second independence referendum at the start of last week. 

The First Minister wants to hold a second vote on leaving the UK on October 19 2023 and is seeking permission from UK Supreme Court to get a referendum go ahead without Westminster's consent. 

Now in an attempt to offer Labour's vision for Scotland's future, Mr Sarwar will publish the first paper during a speech in London. 

Mr Sarwar will call for a new "legal duty of cooperation" between governments in Westminster and Holyrood and "joint governance councils" which he claimed would provide fresh models of intergovernmental working.

He announced his intentions to work alongside UK Labour in a column with the Daily Record. 

Reform plans for the House of Lords will also be set out in the proposals.

He claimed that both the SNP in Scotland and the Conservatives in Westminster "stand to gain politically from the chaos of division" - adding that this ensures "bad government thrives and people pay the price". 

Mr Sarwar said: "Scotland is cursed with two bad governments who benefit from a political climate which seeks to maximise disagreements and disordered relationships across the UK.

"Repeated campaigns for a ­referendum and constitutional disputes are used as a distraction from the SNP’s failures in ­government.

"The challenges faced by Scottish society are treated as reasons to support ­separation from the UK, instead of issues in need of a Scottish ­Government solution."

Speaking to BBC's Radio Scotland on Monday morning, Scottish Labour's constitutional spokesperson Sarah Boyack said conflict between governments in Westiminster and Holyrood "undermines policy making". 

She said: "We've got two governments who are not interested in making devolution a success. The Tories actively want to undermine it and the SNP want to get rid of it altogether."