A Tory government Minister has said it is “up to the Scottish people” whether to stage a second independence referendum despite Boris Johnson saying that he would block such a move.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK Government Business Secretary, strayed into the constitutional minefield when answering questions on the Sturgeon-Salmond feud and Johnson’s newspaper comments renewing his opposition to a second vote.
Kwarteng dodged the Salmond controversy but when he was asked whether he agreed with the PM’s vie that another referendum was “irrelevant, uncalled for and unnecessary” he lost the Downing St plot.
The Business Secretary replied:“I’ve always thought that the issue of Scottish independence is something for the people in Scotland.”
He added: “I do remember, in 2014 I think it was, that they said that the referendum would settle the issue for 25 years, for a generation.
“And I am surprised at how often it’s come back, but it’s up to the Scottish people to decide when and whether they want a referendum.”
The slip in the UK Government’s stance against a re-run referendum delighted the SNP.
Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, pounced on the comments which, she said, have undermined Johnson’s tough stance
She said: “Mr Kwarteng is absolutely correct that the people of Scotland – not Boris Johnson – have the right to decide their own future.
“The UK government seem to be waking up to the reality that their anti-democratic position of denying people in Scotland that right is completely unsustainable.”
The power to stage a referendum is granted by the UK government under a so-called Section 30 order which Boris Johnson has said he would refuse to sign citing the SNP declaration in 2104 that the referendum was a “once in a generation” event.
However, the SNP argue that after Brexit the constitutional circumstances have changed and with polls showing a majority for independence that Scots should be asked again.
Nicola Sturgeon is taking the party into the Holyrood elections on a second referendum ticket but even if the SNP win an election-busting majority in Edinburgh Johnson still says he will refuse to grant the poll.
