Michael Gove has become the latest Tory Minister to insist a generation must pass before a second Scottish independence referendum can be considered.
The Cabinet Office minister, in charge of Boris Johnson’s defence of the Union, was pressed by the SNP’s Kenny MacAskill about the “inevitability” of a second vote.
MacAskill, a former Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary, said even senior Tories believed there had to be another independence poll.
But Gove said six years on from the last referendum is too soon and the Scottish Government needs Westminster authority to stage a second vote.
Speaking in the Commons, MacAskill said: “Even senior Tories are accepting the inevitability of a second referendum.
“Scots have learned, as the Secretary of State will know from the trickery of 1979 when even the dead were counted against.
“Does the Secretary of State not then realise that the people of Scotland will not accept political chicanery on the number or nature of the question to be asked?”
Gove replied: “He makes a very, very important point. It’s absolutely vital we have confidence in the integrity of our democratic institutions and that’s why the Electoral Commission and other bodies play such an important role."
He added: “But of course it’s also important people can have confidence in the promises made by politicians.
“And it was the case in 2014 that Nicola Sturgeon and other leading Scottish nationalists made the point that that referendum was for a generation.
“Just six years later, I do not believe a generation has passed.”
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack caused nationalist outrage earlier this month by suggested a generation could be “25 or 40 years”.
The SNP has vowed that it will press for a second referendum if independence supporting MSPs win a majority at Holyrood next year.
