The Scottish National Party should make clear if they are laying the foundations of a fast-tracked second referendum and intend to make another Yes-No on the union the highlight of their election manifesto next year, according to the Scottish Secretary and his Labour shadow.
David Mundell, Scotland’s sole Conservative MP, and Ian Murray, the only MP to survive the wipe-out of Labour’s seats in Scotland, have both demanded Nicola Sturgeon reveal any change in the SNP’s position.
Scotland’s former first minister, Alex Salmond, told the BBC that another in-out vote on Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom was “inevitable” with the timing of that in the hands of Ms Sturgeon.
The First Minister repeatedly stated throughout the general election campaign that another referendum was not being contemplated and said there were no plans for its inclusion as a policy objective in 2016 Scottish elections.
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However that position shifted substantially when Derek Mackay, the SNP chairman, announced that “independence” and its place in the manifesto would be debated at the SNP conference this autumn.
Although Ms Sturgeon previously said a follow-up referendum would be down to the Scottish people, speaking to the BBC on a visit to China she said the option of a re-run vote being part of her party’s 2016 manifesto would now be a decision taken by herself.
She said: “It will up to me or any future leader of the SNP to decide whether or not that [another referendum] goes in a manifesto for the Scottish election.”
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Her statement is an effective U-turn on the promise that the referendum was a once-in-lifetime or a once-in-a-generation event.
The Scottish Secretary, Mr Mundell, said he wanted “clarity” on the SNP’s position. “At the moment we’ve got Alex Salmond pushing for a second referendum, and we’ve got Nicola Sturgeon not being very clear at all. They’ve repeatedly said – at an official level - that there isn’t going to be a second referendum. I don’t think it is for the SNP to determine whether the people of Scotland are in favour of having another referendum, ” he said.
Mr Mundell, in response to written parliamentary questions, said the government had made no contingency plans for a second Scottish in-out vote.
The Shadow Scottish Secretary, Mr Murray said : “People will worried that Nicola Sturgeon isn’t keeping the promise she made before the referendum. We’ve gone from the ‘the people will decide’ to Nicola Sturgeon will decide. We can’t afford to put the country on pause for another two years again.”
