Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of blocking plans to delay the EU referendum which could have avoided defeat for the Remain campaign.
A senior SNP source claimed the Labour leader wanted it “over and done with”, infuriating a cross-party group of MPs who had wanted to push the referendum date back to autumn this year.
“Crucially we had a number of Tories backing us and it looked as though we were going to get it through,” the source said.
The delay, to cater for the Scottish school holidays and counter voter fatigue from the London mayoral, Scottish, Welsh and Irish elections, was vital to avoid “contaminating the result”, MPs said in February.
However, it is claimed the cross-party plans were thwarted by Mr Corbyn, which meant MPs did not back a DUP motion to postpone the June vote.
Shadow Europe minister Pat Glass told the SNP that the message from Mr Corbyn was that he was not interested in a delay, said the source.
“She told us Jeremy Corbyn just wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible,” the source said.
When the motion was debated in February Ms Glass said she wanted an “early referendum” so workers could get on with their lives.
The Labour Party declined to comment.
