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Since 2014, we have been hearing from Westminster parties that, despite the people of Scotland having a clear right to decide their future, they would block that right.

That’s to be expected from the anti-democratic Tories but Labour should always have known better.

So it was a refreshing change to hear John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor and Jeremy Corbyn’s right-hand man, recognise and accept that it is the Scottish Parliament and people who should decide on the question of whether to hold a new referendum on independence and that Westminster should not block that decision.

Now to most people that is an entirely uncontroversial statement but it sparked a bout of Labour infighting unlike anything we’ve seen in recent years.

Labour MPs and MSPs joined in with the Tories to attack John McDonnell and demand that Westminster imposes a veto on Scotland’s right to choose, whatever the Scottish Parliament or people think. You couldn’t make it up.

Labour supporters in Scotland, who overwhelmingly believe this should be a matter for Holyrood and not Westminster, must be in a state of complete despair. It is increasingly hard to see how the party here can recover.

And let’s be clear, the Scottish people and the Scottish Parliament have decided.

(Image: PA)

After all, the SNP won the 2016 Holyrood elections handsomely on a clear manifesto pledge that said the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum “if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.

Scotland of course voted decisively to remain in the EU – a view held even more strongly now – but Westminster, led by the Tories, has ignored that vote and arrogantly dismissed out of hand a compromise offer from the Scottish Government.

So, in line with the mandate given by voters in 2016, we took the issue to the Scottish Parliament, which voted by a majority to back a referendum.

The democratic mandate is cast-iron.

That’s why, when MSPs return to Parliament in September, they will start considering a new law which will pave the way for a new referendum to be held next year.

And as the chaos at Westminster continues, with Boris Johnson’s new hard-line Tory Government hell-bent on forcing Scotland and the UK not just out of the EU but into a calamitous no deal Brexit in less than three months’ time, there is no doubt the need for independence is becoming ever more pressing.

It is more important than ever that people are given a choice between continuing Westminster control or becoming an independent country.

Scotland is one of the world’s wealthiest countries with extraordinary energy resources, a multi-billion pound food and drink industry, advanced manufacturing, a booming tourist sector and some of the world’s best universities.

We have the potential to create a more prosperous and fairer Scotland. With control of social security, we can stop the Tories dismantling the post-war welfare state.

And we can stop wasting billions of pounds on Trident nuclear weapons.

We could do so much better if we took our own decisions instead of having Westminster Tory governments we don’t vote for deciding our future.

It’s no wonder a poll this week showed that a majority now support independence and are in favour of a referendum within the next two years.

And of course Brexit will see Scotland removed from the European single market – which is eight times the size of the UK alone. That will hit our economy and take away opportunities from our young people.

Industry figures this week warned that “no deal” could lead to food shortages. That comes on top of predictions of big job losses and rising prices.

Our NHS could be at risk from a Tory trade deal with Donald Trump.

That’s not the society people in Scotland voted for and we will continue to work hard with others to stop Brexit and remove the Tories from office.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

A UK general election seems inevitable sooner rather than later.

In Scotland, with Labour too busy fighting themselves to care about jobs and living standards, that election will be a two-horse race between the SNP and the Tories.

It will give us the opportunity to play our part in locking this right-wing Tory party out of government.

And a key issue will be this: Who has the right to decide Scotland’s future – Boris Johnson or the people of Scotland?

It is, of course, perfectly legitimate to oppose independence but it can’t be right to deny people in Scotland the right to choose – and just as Labour’s position has crumbled in the last week, the Tories will find that trying to block democracy is an unsustainable position in a democratic country.

So a better Scotland is possible. As an independent country we can become an equal partner with our friends and neighbours in the rest of the UK.

It’s time to give people that choice.