IT is “dangerous” to compare Scotland to Northern Ireland – and Prime Minister Andy Burnham was actually talking about the “distinction” between the two when he appeared to lay out the route to a second independence referendum, a Scottish Labour leadership contender has said.
Michael Marra – the Labour MSP standing against Joe Fagan for leadership of the party’s Scottish wing – made the comments in response to Burnham saying that Scotland’s route to a second independence referendum should be “exactly the same” as the route laid out for an Irish reunification referendum in the Good Friday Agreement.
The agreement states that the UK’s Northern Ireland Secretary “shall” call a referendum on Irish reunification if it looks likely that the people would vote in support, and that a new vote cannot be held within seven years of the last one.
SNP MP Chris Law raised the Northern Ireland Act’s provisions at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, asking if Burnham would “recognise the people of Scotland have the same right, the equal right to choose their own future, and that the conditions for a second independence referendum should be set out in law?”
The Labour leader responded: “On that question of a border poll, it is to be considered by the Northern Ireland Secretary when there is a clear consensus in the country, when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered.
“I would say exactly the same situation in Scotland.”
The comments have been leapt upon by the SNP, with First Minister John Swinney saying it is the “first time since 2014 [that] a British Prime Minister accepts that majority support for a referendum should mean one takes place”.
However, speaking to the Holyrood Sources Podcast on Wednesday, Marra – who admitted to not having heard the Prime Minister’s words directly – told the host: “I would say you probably are reading that incorrectly.”
🆕 Has Andy Burnham just set out the route to #IndyRef2? Here's how the contenders for Scottish Labour leader respond to the PM's comments: "Comparing to Northern Ireland is, generally, dangerous and I think it's actually the distinction the Prime Minister sought to… pic.twitter.com/XLI29qCJ5l
— Holyrood Sources (@HolyroodSources) September 9, 2026
The Labour MSP went on: “I just really want to say clearly that I think that this broad issue, about comparing to Northern Ireland, I think is generally dangerous and I think it's actually the distinction the Prime Minister sought to highlight.”
The Holyrood Sources host responded: “He has drawn a direct comparison, and you’ve called the PM’s words dangerous.”
Marra went on: “The Good Friday Agreement was struck to stop the death of people in the streets of Ireland. And it was a mechanism that was put in place to bring two warring factions together to bring peace to part of our islands.
“I do not believe that it is morally comparable or, frankly, circumstantially comparable to use the mechanistic means that was presented in that area to the Scottish question, and I don't think anybody should actually be drawing on that.”
Fagan, Marra’s rival for the Scottish Labour leadership position, appeared on the same podcast and also tried to dismiss the Prime Minister’s words.
“I think it sounds more like a statement of the bleeding obvious if I'm perfectly honest,” Fagan said.
He went on: “The Good Friday Agreement makes that provision that if the Secretary of State judges that opinion is shifted, so it doesn't set out triggers or anything like that, which is frequently how this question is posited.
“But if the Secretary of State makes a judgment that public opinion is shifted, then he has the power to call that border poll.”
“Basically, we end up not in this position where the constitution is contested and where the polls are pretty evenly split. If there's a decisive break, it's one way or the other and that’s over a sustained period, then actually that's a shift.”
Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman told The National that Burnham had moved the conversation on.
“Last week, I said that Scottish Labour has lost a large amount of what was once our core vote to the SNP, and that we must speak to those people if we ever want to see a Scottish Labour government again,” Leishman said.
“I believe that Scottish Labour should engage on the biggest issue that dominates our politics, and determining a path to what would be required for another independence referendum to take place is both democratic and also the way to speak to those voters once again.
“The Prime Minister’s answer today moved the conversation on and I hope that whoever becomes the new leader of Scottish Labour shares my view.”
