Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has provoked a row over a second Scottish independence referendum by suggesting it would be blocked by the UK government.
Before backtracking in a BBC Radio Scotland interview on Thursday morning, Fallon told the Herald newspaper the British government would not give Holyrood the necessary legal power to stage another referendum.
“No, forget it,” he said, reflecting opposition from cabinet ministers who believe Nicola Sturgeon is bluffing about holding a snap referendum before the UK leaves the EU, since she does not have majority support for doing so among Scottish voters.
Fallon told the newspaper the first minister was “constantly asking us to respect the SNP government, but she has to respect the decision of Scotland to stay inside the UK in 2014 and the decision of the UK to leave the EU. Respect works two ways”.
He softened his stance on Good Morning Scotland, instead urging Sturgeon’s government to “forget all that stuff and get on with the day job” it was elected for. “We didn’t see the need for a second referendum,” he said.
Sturgeon retaliated by retweeting and endorsing a comment saying the Conservative party would block a second independence referendum out of fear.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) February 2, 2017
After hearing Fallon’s radio interview, she criticised the defence secretary for rowing back on his earlier remarks.
Serious backpeddling from Michael Fallon on GMS on blocking #indyref2. Must have realised what a disastrous move it would be for Tories.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) February 2, 2017
Fallon’s comments risk fuelling nationalist resentment about the Tories’ small mandate in Scotland, where it has one MP out of 59. Earlier this week, Sturgeon suggested she could decide to call a snap referendum as early as next month, before the UK government formally triggers article 50 by the end of March.
Speaking after she had pressed Theresa May, the prime minister, to accept that Scotland deserved privileged access to the single market because it voted against leaving the EU, Sturgeon said: “In terms of me getting a sense of whether Scotland is going to be listened to at all, that period between now and triggering article 50 is absolutely crucial.
“The next few weeks are not going to resolve every issue of Brexit, but in terms of me being able to judge whether Scotland’s voice is going to be heard at all in this process … the next few weeks are very important.”
Repeated opinion polls show the majority of Scottish voters do not want a quick independence referendum and support for leaving the UK is at about 45%, below the majority Sturgeon needs. Stephen Low, a Scottish union official close to Jeremy Corbyn, the UK Labour leader, accused Fallon of handing Sturgeon a propaganda gift.
SNP don't want a second referendum - but a big pointless fight about their right to hold one is just the distraction they were looking for. https://t.co/gvEgYX4KoU
— (((Stephen Low))) (@underaredflag) February 2, 2017
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, whose party is the second-largest at Holyrood, has been at pains to stress that it would be inconceivable that the UK government would block a new referendum if MSPs voted in favour of one.
Fallon, in Scotland for a series of defence-related visits, tried to bolster Davidson’s position by attacking the Scottish government’s record on domestic policy.
“All this talk of a second referendum is a diversion by the SNP, away from their day job on which Ruth Davidson and the Conservatives have been harrying them on, which is to get to grips with the problems they were elected to deal with, and not get into the theology of whether a second referendum should be held,” he said.
“They should forget all that and get on with what they were elected to do, which is improve school standards, tackling the problems in the Scottish health service and above all helping to improve the Scottish economy, where it is alarming that unemployment is now rising again.”
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