THE three left-wing candidates vying to be Unite’s next general secretary have backed Scotland’s right to hold a second independence referendum.

The commitments from Steve Turner, Howard Beckett and Sharon Graham, made at a hustings held by Unite Hospitality Glasgow last week, echo votes by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) last month.

They are at odds with the position of Scottish Labour, with leader Anas Sarwar resisting calls for the party to support another vote.

Mr Beckett, who said he would argue for greater devolution — a “devo-max” option — to be considered alongside independence in any future vote, warned that Labour had “never recovered” from siding with the Tories to back a No vote in the 2014 independence referendum.

Mr Turner said it was inconsistent to back self-determination for the Palestinians and the Kurds but not for Scottish people, adding that  citizens have the right to decide their own future in a democracy.

Ms Graham stressed it was “absolutely right” that Scotland should control its destiny, and called for a greater devolution of power to regions across the UK and within Unite itself.

Delegates at the STUC 2021 congress in April passed a motion stating that the Scottish Parliament should have the power to hold a referendum on the country’s future without consent from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A majority of MSPs now back another vote after May’s Scottish parliamentary elections, which saw the SNP and the Greens, both supporters of another referendum, taking 71 seats — just over half the total. 

Unite’s Hospitality Glasgow branch welcomed the commitments from the candidates and called on others in the Labour movement to follow suit.

Branch chairwoman Caitlin Lee said: “There are clear benefits to holding responsibility for rates of pay, contractual obligations and the power to scrap zero-hours contracts in Holyrood rather than under perpetual neoliberal governments in London.

“A second vote on Scotland’s future allows us to challenge this status quo and ensure workers have a say in their own future.”

Gerard Coyne, a fourth candidate to replace Len McCluskey as Unite’s next leader, is considered the right-wing option.

The union’s executive council will confirm next week which candidates have received enough branch nominations to be on this summer’s ballot. A result is expected on August 26.