SCOTTISH Labour leader Richard Leonard has said Jeremy Corbyn will refuse a request for an independence referendum.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she intends to submit a Section 30 order by the end of this year, allowing the Scottish Government to hold a second vote on independence.

During a phone-in on radio station Clyde 2 yesterday, Leonard was asked how the Labour leader would deal with the request, should he be in Downing Street when it is made.

He said: “He’s going to deal with it and say no. The SNP doesn’t have a mandate for a second independence referendum.”

“We are saying that we oppose the creation of a separate Scottish state. We oppose independence and we therefore are opposed to the holding of a second referendum.

“The reason for that is we think it will be economically devastating.”

Leonard did, however, say a majority for pro-independence parties in Scotland in 2021 would be a mandate for a second vote.

He added that the question of independence is not one that would be a “priority” for a Labour government.

He said: “Our priorities are to solve austerity, to fix the mess that we’re in with Brexit and to start to turn around the economy and understand that there’s a climate change challenge before us.”

Earlier on the same show, Deputy First Minister John Swinney refused to rule out taking legal action if the Section 30 order was rejected.

He said: “All we’re asking, is for political leaders in the UK to respect the important constitutional tradition of the sovereignty of the people of Scotland and allowing the people of Scotland to decide on their own future.

“That, to me, is a very simple, straightforward position, it’s been accepted across the board for many years.”

When pressed on the response to a rejection of the order, Swinney did not rule out the possibility of court action.

Corbyn is due to campaign in Scotland again this week in the run up to the General Election, Leonard also confirmed during the phone-in.

Corbyn was accused of a lack of clarity on independence when he visited Scotland in November.

Leonard said: “Jeremy Corbyn is due to be back in Scotland in the early part of this week.

“He’ll be back in Scotland before Thursday’s polling day.”

Leonard said the Labour leader was “helpful to our campaign”, adding: “He gets that the big challenges we face are not around constitutional issues, they are around how do we eradicate poverty?

“How do we stop rough sleeping and end homelessness? How do we build a society that’s much more equal, that’s fair?”

During his last visit to Scotland, Corbyn was also branded a “terrorist sympathiser” by a Church of Scotland minister, who was suspended for his heckling of the Labour leader.