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The leader of the Labour Party and also leader of the opposition in the United Kingdom, Jeremy Corbyn, has stated that the British parliament should not block a second independence referendum in Scotland. Although later, he has stated that he is not in favor of independence.

What Corbyn did say was that the Chamber can debate whether it is a good idea or not to repeat the vote, but that it has no capacity to prevent it.

 “A referendum took place and a decision was reached on that. What I would much rather is a Labour government given the chance to ensure that Scotland also gets the investment it needs, also gets the social justice it needs, and also gets the job opportunities for young people which have been denied.” he said. 

While the British value the possibility of agreeing with Scotland on a new referendum, Spain's acting PM, Pedro Sánchez, has not yet wanted to hear about an agreed referendum for Catalonia.

With his statements, Corbyn has confirmed the positioning of the Scottish Labour leader, John McDonnell, when he said last week that a future Labour government would not obstruct the holding of a referendum in Scotland, if approved by the Scottish Parliament. Scotland needs the British government to give it the powers to hold the referendum, in order to carry it out, which already happened in 2014. On that occasion, the 'no' only just won.

Subsequently, the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, rejoiced at Corbyn's position in a tweet (below), stating that despite her not being Corbyn’s biggest fan, she thought him right this time. She pointed out that although positions opposing independence or arguing against a vote were "legitimate", Westminster would not be defending a legitimate position if they were to block a democratic mandate from the Scottish Parliament.