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Labour are in “turmoil” over Europe and Nicola Sturgeon should do “everybody a favour” by leading the charge for a second Brexit referendum, Kezia Dugdale said yesterday.

The former Scottish Labour leader expressed frustration over her party’s position on leaving the EU on the debut edition of the Daily Record’s new Scottish Politics Podcast.

She was joined by her partner, SNP MSP Jenny Gilruth, who dismissed the idea it was the SNP’s responsibility to fight for an exit to Brexit.

(Image: Daily Record)

Dugdale said Sturgeon could “make a big difference” to the campaign for a referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal by giving it her full backing.

The exchanges came after Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie urged Sturgeon to back a second Brexit referendum during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood.

Dugdale suggested Sturgeon didn’t do enough in the run-up to the EU referendum in 2016.

She said: “Nicola Sturgeon is sort of right that it is not her you need to convince on the question of a second EU referendum. But my goodness, the power of her lending her voice to it would make a big difference.

“I felt the SNP and Nicola – when she was at the peak of her popularity – could have done more in England to convince people to stay in the EU.

(Image: PA)

“Now, that is not meant as a harsh criticism, I just think that if you believe in the European Union, you’ve got to say so in every community and every corner in the land.

“She has got the chance to do that now on the question of a second referendum and in so doing, she would be doing everybody a favour whilst the Labour Party are clearly in turmoil over Europe.”

But Gilruth dismissed Dugdale’s claim that the SNP had not worked hard enough in the run-up to the EU referendum.

She said: “Actually, we did secure a remain vote up here – 62 per cent of the population – and the SNP were a huge force in terms of securing that vote. Because my party are such a well-organised machine, we were out, we were campaigning.”

But Dugdale said Sturgeon should have done more to convince voters in England to back the EU.

She added: “My criticism is not of the SNP and what Nicola said or did in Scotland. She was a great voice for Europe. I would just like to have seen her do more of that in England.

“She was very, very popular. She was at the peak of her political popularity at that time. I think she would have been a very persuasive voice in communities like Newcastle and Birmingham.”

(Image: PA)

The pair also discussed the chances of a second independence referendum, yesterday’s First Minister’s Questions and the political future of under pressure health secretary Shona Robison.

Dugdale and Gilruth announced they were a couple last July.