Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran will today accuse independence supporters of a “failure of logic” for wanting to break away from the richest part of the UK.
The Labour MP will make the claim as she calls for a new debate on inequality in Scotland before September’s referendum.
She will attack what she says is a central SNP myth – that the biggest inequalities facing Scotland are those between the nation and the rest of the UK.
The remarks will be made as the pro-UK and pro-independence campaigns battle for working-class votes.
Ms Curran’s argument contrasts with the SNP claim that London’s power imbalances the Scottish economy.
In a speech at the Wheatley Group in Glasgow today, she will say: “The SNP analysis of inequality begins and ends with one argument.
“That the south-east of England, and London in particular, is in Alex Salmond’s words, a “dark star” that is sucking the life out of the rest of the country.
“It is true that too much wealth is concentrated in one part of the United Kingdom, and that one city spurns so much of our economic growth.
“But there is a failure of logic that says that the best way to solve the problem of an uneven economy, and to increase our prosperity, is to cut ourselves off from the richest part.”
Eilidh Whiteford, SNP MP for Banff and Buchan, said: “The inconvenient truth for Margaret Curran is that inequality in the UK increased during the 13 years of the last Labour government, and the UK is the fourth most unequal country in the developed world.
“These are just some reasons why stalwarts of the Labour movement in Scotland – such as Alex Mosson, Charles Gray, Carol Fox and Bob Thomson – are voting ‘yes’ for an independent Scotland.”