A NEW vote on Scottish independence should not be a "simple binary choice" between Yes and No, according to the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC). 

Speaking to the STUC annual congress, which is taking place online, general secretary Roz Foyer said people should be given the "greatest possible choice" over the country's future.

Foyer said the STUC will continue to “engage with the evolving debate on Scotland’s constitution”.

She stressed this includes the “right of the people of Scotland to determine their own constitutional path, including holding a further referendum on independence, should that be their wish”.

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The general secretary added: “If Brexit has taught us anything, it is that there is much more to this than a simple binary choice, the devil will be in the detail and the general council supports giving the greatest possible choice to the Scottish people, should the time come for another referendum.”

Foyer also used her speech to criticise Westminster’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing the UK Government of having “flip-flopped on public safety, placing both lives and livelihoods in danger”.

Calling for a “people’s recovery” from the pandemic, Foyer said a more “equal and sustainable economy” could be created in its aftermath.

She said: “We have much to do, and huge challenges to face, but in our darkest moments let’s remember that from the ashes of the Second World War the British working classes built the NHS, decent housing and a welfare state that benefited and raised living standards for millions.

“And similarly, from the ashes of this pandemic, we can grow the roses of a more equal and sustainable economy, where all workers can get a fairer share of our nation’s wealth.”

She said the trade union movement is “fighting hard for a better future for our kids, for a fairer, more equal economy, greener industry, more high quality jobs, investment in public services and significant state interventions to build a Scotland that’s fit for the future”.

Foyer said workers “can’t afford to wait until after a referendum” for action on jobs and the economy.

She added: “Instead we’re faced with a government in Westminster that did too little too late to save tens of thousands of jobs, that’s outsourced key public health services, that flip-flopped on public safety, placing both lives and livelihoods in danger.

“While our Government here in Scotland, for all its talk of a renewables revolution, is unwilling to stand up for jobs in BiFab and unable to stop a public health scandal in our care services.”

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Last month the STUC said they would back a second independence referendum if the controversial Internal Market Bill is passed against Holyrood’s wishes.

They said if the UK Government pressed on with the power grab, it “makes the case for a second independence referendum unanswerable”.