(Image: Scottish Government)
The SNP has invited Andy Burnham to their conference in Aberdeen, following reports the Prime Minister will visit Scotland on Friday.
The party said Mr Burnham should come to its annual gathering at P&J Live and set out how Scots could be given an “agreed legal process” to determine the country’s constitutional future.
The invitation comes after reports that the Prime Minister will travel to Scotland on Friday, in the middle of the SNP’s three-day conference.
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Mr Burnham’s visit is expected to focus on devolution and transferring powers from Holyrood to local communities, in what Labour figures have presented as an attempt to take the political fight directly to the SNP.
The trip will be Mr Burnham’s first major public visit to Scotland since becoming Prime Minister in July and comes weeks after he used his Labour conference speech to mount a strong defence of the Union.
During that speech, Mr Burnham directly challenged John Swinney after the First Minister had previously claimed he would be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom. Mr Burnham said the remark had left him “utterly determined to prove him wrong”.
The SNP has sought to seize on separate comments made by Mr Burnham in the Commons last month, when he appeared to suggest he was open to another independence referendum.
He subsequently clarified that a fresh vote remained “off limits”, arguing there was no consensus for one.
However, the SNP believe the exchange has reopened the question of who should ultimately decide Scotland’s constitutional future.
Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, said: “The SNP would like to invite Andy Burnham to SNP conference as part of his visit to Scotland.
“The British Prime Minister has agreed it is for the people of Scotland to decide our own future and there is no better time for the leader of Unionism and the leader of Scottish independence to further that basic democratic principle.
“Andy Burnham made Scottish independence the focus of his conference speech with his time in Downing Street fast becoming defined by the UK's constitutional future — it is the central question on these islands.
“SNP conference is the perfect and natural place for Andy Burnham to set out the logical extension of his words — an agreed legal process.”
Mr Brown had already accused the Prime Minister of making Scottish independence a defining issue of his premiership, saying polling showed independence was the preferred option of Scots and calling on him to agree a legal route for another vote.
The Prime Minister will also arrive in Scotland under pressure from the Scottish Conservatives to approve new North Sea drilling.
Shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie said the PM should use the visit to give the green light to the Jackdaw gas field and Rosebank oil field.
Mr Bowie accused the Government of damaging investor confidence by delaying decisions on the projects and said Labour’s stance on new oil and gas licences was costing jobs.
He also pointed to the recent Aberdeen South by-election, where Scottish Conservative Douglas Lumsden secured 50 per cent of the vote after campaigning in support of new drilling.
Mr Bowie said: “Andy Burnham must use his first major trip to Scotland to finally give the green light to new drilling in the North Sea.
“His dithering over granting approval for Jackdaw and Rosebank is having a devastating effect on investment in the sector.
“What more does the Prime Minister need to wait for? It is absolute madness that our energy security is becoming ever more reliant on imports when we could be maximising our own resources in the North Sea.”
He added: “If Andy Burnham wants to show he’s serious about protecting jobs and standing up for one of Scotland’s most important industries, then he will mark this trip by giving approval so these projects can get under way as soon as possible.”
The intervention adds another layer to Friday’s visit, with Mr Burnham now facing competing pressure over both Scotland’s constitutional future and the future of the North Sea energy industry.
Labour, meanwhile, is expected to use the visit to put pressure on Mr Swinney over his plans for reforming local government.
Labour, meanwhile, is expected to use Friday’s visit to put pressure on Mr Swinney over his plans for reforming local government.
The Prime Minister is understood to favour pushing more power down from Holyrood, while the First Minister has ruled out directly elected mayors or provosts - a model backed by Mr Burnham following his nine years as mayor of Greater Manchester.
The intervention sets up an increasingly personal constitutional clash between the two leaders, with Mr Burnham defending the Union and the SNP seeking to force him to spell out the circumstances in which Westminster would permit another independence referendum.