JEREMY Corbyn has rejected any chance of Scottish Labour “splitting off” from the UK party as he rebuked those at the Glasgow hustings who jeered at the leadership of Kezia Dugdale.

Last month, Henry McLeish, the former First Minister, suggested Scottish Labour should sever its ties with the UK party and become an independent entity.

“Scotland,” he argued, “could see Home Rule, a form of federalism, independence, or some other - as yet unknown - four nation constitutional solution. Regardless of the outcome, an Independent Labour Party in Scotland is essential."

Alex Rowley, Ms Dugdale’s deputy, has spoken about Home Rule for Scotland, which also points to having a separate Scottish Labour Party.

But on the campaign trail in Edinburgh, Mr Corbyn was adamant, saying: “The Scottish party is not going to split off from the UK party."

The UK Labour leader also made clear that while he was disappointed that Ms Dugdale had thrown her support behind his rival Owen Smith, he would continue to work with her should he win the leadership contest on September 24.

During an at times fractious hustings in Glasgow on Thursday night, the Welsh MP accused Mr Corbyn of being partially responsible for Labour’s decline in Scotland, saying the party had “gone backwards” under the UK leader’s watch as it was now in third place behind Ruth Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives.

Mr Smith also expressed alarm when, in praising Ms Dugdale’s leadership, members of the audience laughed and jeered.

Asked about this in Edinburgh, Mr Corbyn, who attended a rally in Dundee last night, urged Labour supporters to show respect to the Lothian MSP.

"I don't think anyone should jeer at anyone else. I don't do that myself and have asked other people not to and made it very, very clear - let's have an honest, open and respectful debate."

He demurred when asked questions on whether or not Ms Dugdale should face a leadership challenge north of the border.

"It's not my decision whether she should face a challenge or not; that's a matter for the Scottish Labour Party and her," he said.

Mr Corbyn went on: "I have worked very well with Kezia ever since she was elected to lead. We have been on many campaign visits together, we've spoken very often about many aspects of Scottish politics.

"She had the courtesy to tell me that she wasn't going to be supporting me in this election before she announced her support for Owen Smith. Naturally, I'm disappointed in that but it's no more than a disappointment.

"I'll be happy to work with her after this election and we will work together because we're in the same party, we're in the Labour Party; we want to see a better society."

The MP for Islington added: "The Scottish party is not going to split off from the UK party. The party is the Labour Party in Scotland, it is the Scottish Labour Party, and we have a devolved situation where the leader of the Scottish Labour Party is elected by the Labour Party members in Scotland.

"I'm the leader of the UK Labour Party and obviously I have to work in co-operation with the leader of the Scottish party and I'm very happy to do that."

Earlier, with the backdrop of the Edinburgh festival, Mr Corbyn pledged to reverse years of "systemic under-funding" for the arts by the Tories as he launched his culture strategy in the Scottish capital.

Promising a "transformative" vision for the arts, he said if he won power he would reverse Tory real terms cuts to arts expenditure and restore grant in aid funding of the Arts Council” working within Labour’s so-called fiscal crediblity rule, which aims to balance day-to-day spending with the amount raised in taxes.

Labour pointed out that since 2010, Creative Scotland had lost £4.1 million; overall, the loss to arts bodies in Scotland, England and Wales was almost £43m, the party claimed.

Several leading cultural figures came out in support of Mr Corbyn’s proposal. The actor Mark Rylance said: “I welcome and wholeheartedly support Jeremy Corbyn's vision of a Labour Government that works to open access for all people to the arts around them in society and also the creative artist within each person as well…

“Investing in the arts as Jeremy Corbyn proposes is a beneficial step for all. I hope my fellow artists will stand behind his vision and leadership," he added.