Johann Lamont tells SNP to name date for vote

SCOTTISH Labour leader Johann Lamont today urged Alex Salmond to make 2012 the “year of the referendum”.

In her New Year message, she also called for urgent action on unemployment, which has risen for the last three months.

Ms Lamont said: “There is nothing in the SNP manifesto which stops them from naming the day for a referendum now. Waiting is holding Scotland back. The longer Alex Salmond delays, the more it suggests he fears the verdict of the Scottish people.”

She added that Scotland was in the grip of a jobs crisis.

She said: “We need to see a radical change of course. There is no doubt that what the Tories are doing is a disaster for the economy, but the Scottish Government pointing and blaming someone else is not a sufficient economic response and does nothing to help those on the dole.”