Brown warns SNP want to use 'chaos' after election to force second referendum on Scottish independence

• Former prime minister says Nicola Sturgeon's answers are 'all evasion'
• But that her party want 'constitutional crisis' to force another referendum 
• Warned voters on May 7 will decide Scotland's future for next few years
• Mr Brown urged people to vote Labour to end bedroom tax, food bank poverty, zero-hours contracts and the neglect of the NHS

By Khaleda Rahman for MailOnline

Published: 09:52 EST, 25 April 2015 | Updated: 11:17 EST, 25 April 2015

Gordon Brown has warned that the Scottish nationalists want an SNP vote in the General Election to force a second referendum on independence.

The former prime minister said that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon's answers on the issue are 'all evasion'.

But that her party want 'chaos and constitutional crisis' at Westminster to force another independence referendum.

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Gordon Brown, pictured campaigning this week, has warned that the SNP want to use the chaos after the election to force another referendum on Scottish independence and urged 'patriotic Scots' to vote Labour

And he warned that those casting their vote on May 7 will be deciding the future of Scotland for the next few years. 

Mr Brown was speaking during a joint event with local Labour candidate and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander at Elderslie Village Hall in Renfrewshire.

He said: 'There is an SNP candidate in this constituency. She says vote SNP, get SNP MPs at Westminster and we will twist their arms and get another referendum.

'Remember what the SNP used to say - the referendum was once in a generation, then it changed a little to once in a lifetime, then it was once every 15 years and now when you ask Ms Sturgeon about this her answers are all evasion. She cannot give a straight answer to the question.

Gordon Brown warns Scottish voters of SNP referendum intentions

'But does not the SNP candidate in this constituency tell the truth, that what they want is an SNP vote not to deliver social justice but to deliver the chaos and constitutional crisis at Westminster to as she said force a second referendum.

'And I say I don't want the divisiveness, I don't want the bitterness, I don't want the acrimony, I don't want the divisions between families and communities in the next few months that we had in the past few months.'

The former prime minister said that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon's answers on the issue are 'all evasion'

Mr Brown urged people to vote Labour to end the bedroom tax, food bank poverty, zero-hours contracts and the neglect of the NHS.

He added: 'When you vote on May 7 remember that you are not just voting to end Tory austerity and the possibility of five more years of the bedroom tax and everything else, you're also voting on whether you are going to allow the SNP to use your vote to try to force a second referendum on this country within a few months or after the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.' 

He also said that Labour will hold an economic summit immediately after the General Election to boost jobs, expand city deals, encourage investment and provide jobs and training for young people. 

Mr Brown also urged people to be 'proud patriotic Scots' and back Labour's plan for full employment in Scotland.

He said: 'Patriotism means, yes, supporting a strong Scottish parliament, but it doesn't mean rejecting the co-operation across the whole country that can deliver us full employment and more jobs.

'It doesn't mean rejecting the money that comes from the bankers' bonus tax that will allow Scottish young people to have jobs in the future.

'It doesn't mean rejecting the co-operation on research and innovation that will replace the Linwoods of the past and the lost jobs of the present with the new high-quality jobs of the future.

'And, yes, patriotism means a strong Scottish parliament but it doesn't need or require us to reject the partnership that allows us to fund the pensions of this country, sharing the resources of 60 million people across the whole country, far better than pooling the resources of only five million people, to secure the best pensions imaginable.'

SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon joins female activists in Glasgow's Buchanan Street to launch the party's womens pledge today

Scotland's Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: 'While Gordon Brown appears to be re-fighting last year's referendum, the SNP are out talking to voters about next month's General Election and the huge opportunity to make Scotland stronger at Westminster. The contrast could not be clearer.

'Unfortunately for Labour Brown's speech this morning simply reminds people once again of how Labour stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tories for two and a half years to talk Scotland down.

'The question Labour's current leadership have repeatedly failed to answer is if there are more anti-Tory MPs - between the SNP and Labour - than there are Tory MPs, will they work with us to lock the Tories out and to deliver better policies for people not just in Scotland but across the rest of the UK.

'A strong team of SNP MPs can give Labour the backbone to oppose further cuts and pursue a progressive alternative to austerity.' 

From left, Anas Sarwar MP, former prime minister Gordon Brown and former leader of the Scottish Labour party Johann Lamont attend the Scottish Labour campaign launch to keep Scotland part of the UK in 2013

Brown roars into life on eve of historic Scottish vote (related)

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