UK Edition
Kezia Dugdale: I could vote for independence to keep Scotland in EU
Kezia Dugdale was accused of being "incapable" of defending the Union last night after she said it was “not inconceivable" that she could support Scottish independence if there was a vote to leave the EU.
In an interview with the Fabian Society, the Scottish Labour leader said she" would very much like" to remain part of the UK and the EU.
Asked where her "loyalty" would lie if there was an overall vote to leave in the upcoming referendum, but Scotland wanted to remain, she said: "I've never contemplated that. I really wouldn't like to choose, because what I want to do is the best possible thing for Scotland."
But when asked if she would "argue, for Scotland's sake, against the Union", she replied: "Possibly. It's not inconceivable.”
Ms Dugdale also spoke for the first time in the interview about her private life, revealing that she had a female partner, and adding that she did not feel the need to talk about it.
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said her comment on independence was a “staggering admission” that meant she “simply cannot be trusted to defend the decision of two million Scots to stay part of the UK”.
Ms Davidson said: “The idea that Scotland's place in the United Kingdom is in some way dependent on Britain's membership of the EU is offensive.
“Scotland helped build the UK and is an integral part of it, confirmed by the referendum vote just 18 months ago.
"With the SNP about to prepare a fresh drive for independence, we need to stand up for our place in the UK. It now appears Labour are simply incapable of doing that."
Speaking about her private life, Ms Dugdale told the Fabian Society: “I have a female partner. I don't talk about it very much because I don't feel I need to. And there's something too about how meteoric my career has been.
"I am generally calm, almost serene. I don't get easily stressed or battered. But I need a bit of stability to do that, and that means my private life is my private life.
“That's the thing I just have to have that nobody gets to touch, and that gives me the strength to be calm elsewhere." Ms Davidson, who is openly gay, later tweeted that she was "genuinely pleased" that "Kez feels comfortable enough to come out".
Elsewhere in the interview the Labour leader spoke of her respect for Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, despite regular clashes between the pair.
She said: "Women owe it to other women to say, 'Look at that. Isn't it fabulous?' It would be completely ridiculous if I wasn't to recognise how talented she is.
"When I was a Labour researcher and she was health minister, we did cross paths more regularly, in the canteen. She was very, very kind to me then and encouraged me a lot.”
She later sought to clarify her position on independence, saying that in the Scottish leaders' debate earlier this week she had ruled out a second independence referendum.
She said: "We won't introduce one in government and we would vote against one if
"I campaigned as hard as anybody to ensure that Scotland remained part of the UK.
The collapse in the oil price showed that the best way to secure our public services is to stay in the UK. I would vote to stay in the UK in any future referendum.
"After the collapse of the economic arguments for independence, the biggest threat to the Union is now the Tory party civil war on Europe.
"Both Brexit and leaving the UK would be bad for Scotland. If we leave the EU because of Tory infighting Nicola Sturgeon will do everything she can to use that as an excuse for another independence vote. I want to stay in both unions and will vote to stay in both."