Leonard: election failure will be my responsibility

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has said he will take full responsibility if his party fares badly at this week's European elections.

Richard Leonard has said he will take responsibility if Labour fare poorly in Scotland at the European elections.

Speaking after a rally in Glasgow alongside former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and his party's election candidates, he was asked who would be at fault if Labour did not return two MEPs to Brussels.

He said: "As leader of the Scottish Labour Party I take responsibility for our electoral performance in Scotland. But I'm not contemplating a heavy defeat. There's a lot to play for over the next three days, and my job is to encourage people to vote Labour and to be confident because Labour is the only party going into these elections standing for hope over fear."

Asked why Nigel Farage's Brexit Party was polling higher than Labour in Scotland, Mr Leonard said: "We'll see what happens on Thursday and when the count comes in on Sunday, but what we've been saying is we have three days to stop the Brexit Party making gains in Scotland and across the UK, and history tells us that if a party led by Nigel Farage is electorally popular it will have dire consequences - it was the popularity of UKIP in 2014 that forced David Cameron to call the referendum in 2016.

"I am extremely concerned that if Farage is successful on Thursday this week, by this time next week the Tory party and Tory leadership contenders will be adopting his policy of a no deal Brexit which will be catastrophic for jobs and catastrophic for the economy."

Mr Leonard said he welcomed Gordon Brown's support, and added: "At a time when Scottish politics is at a crossroads and there are choices to be made and there's a danger of an upsurge of support for the Brexit Party, Gordon considers it his public duty to come out and speak up for the Labour alternative, to explain why in his view the only choice open to people who want to stop a no deal Brexit, is a vote for Labour.

"The position of the Labour Party is we want to see and end to the divisive politics of nationalism - Scottish nationalism or British nationalism - we want to see politics that bring people together. We need to try and move things on beyond constitutional politics otherwise there's a danger that the real challenges we face as a country will not be tackled."