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Scotland 'can hold independence vote without UK's go-ahead' Scottish independence: Sturgeon rules out new poll without UK's go-ahead
(about 2 hours later)
The deputy leader of the Scottish National party has said Nicola Sturgeon should call a second independence referendum without waiting for legal powers from London to do so. Nicola Sturgeon has ruled out holding an unofficial Scottish independence referendum, after her deputy suggested she could call one without legal approval.
Keith Brown told an audience of independence activists in Aberdeen: “If we want to have a referendum, then we decide we’re going to have a referendum.” Video footage emerged on Thursday showing Keith Brown, the deputy leader of the Scottish National party, telling independence activists: “If we want to have a referendum, then we decide we’re going to have a referendum.”
Sturgeon’s public position is that she would not stage a referendum without Westminster’s approval. Her advisers say that doing so would alienate wavering voters, undermine confidence in her record for responsible government and bog her administration down in lengthy court battles. Scottish independence: new vote depends on Brexit outcome – Sturgeon
The Scottish government can only stage an official referendum legally if it is given a section 30 order under the Scotland Act, and could be sued if it were to use public funds for one without approval. Theresa May has repeatedly said she will not allow an independence referendum while Brexit is ongoing, a process she says will take several years to complete. He said the SNP should not be put off because of a probable refusal by Theresa May to grant the necessary legal authority via a so-called section 30 order. “I don’t think the yes movement should be willing to anticipate a refusal of a section 30 order as a reason not to call a referendum,” he said.
Sturgeon is due to make a speech on her plans for a second vote in the next few weeks, once there is clarity over Brexit. The first minister said last month that “calm consideration” was needed. Brown’s remarks add to the intense pressure she faces from activists and some SNP MSPs to avoid further delays. As she faced opposition demands for clarification at Holyrood, Sturgeon insisted she had no plans to call a second referendum without a section 30 agreement, similar to the one agreed by the Scottish and UK governments in 2012, which paved the way for the 2014 referendum.
There has been speculation that Sturgeon favours delaying any referendum until after the 2021 Scottish elections, but Brown said she had sympathy with hardline arguments that a further delay would allow Brexit to become “normalised” in voters’ minds. “I am not open to that possibility,” she told reporters. “I want and consider that the basis of the referendum should be the same as the last time. [The] legal basis in future should be the same as the legal basis in the past.”
In video footage of his speech published by the Sun on Thursday, Brown accepted there was a worry that staging a referendum without legal approval would damage support for independence. May has repeatedly stated she will not allow another referendum while Brexit is ongoing, a process she says will take several years. Asked at an event in Glasgow on Thursday whether permission would be given, Jeremy Hunt , the foreign secretary, said: “The answer of course will be no.”
He said, however, that the SNP had a mandate from the 2016 Holyrood elections to stage a second referendum if there was a material change in Scotland’s circumstances. Sturgeon has said the Brexit vote was such a change. Sturgeon’s spokesman said Brown had since clarified his position. In a tweet on Thursday morning, Brown said he meant the prime minister’s stance should not dissuade the Scottish government from seeking a section 30 order and trying to win the argument for one.
Implying that he wanted to call a referendum soon, Brown said: “I have said that I don’t think that certainly the SNP, and I don’t think the yes movement, should be willing to anticipate a refusal of a section 30 order as a reason not to call a referendum.” My position is clear - the deeply undemocratic stance of the UK Government in denying the mandate for indyref and refusing a s30 order should not prevent the Scottish Government seeking one and planning on the basis of winning that case. https://t.co/BTiQD9F50n
On Brexit, he said: “I think the extension of article 50, if that happens, just means we’re going to get more and more disinvestment and job losses and the undermining of the economy. His remarks, at an independence campaign event in Aberdeen last month, sparked allegations from the Scottish Conservatives the SNP was privately considering staging an illegal referendum, similar to the unofficial plebiscite held by Catalan nationalists in October 2017.
“And the other thing that’s worth bearing in mind is, in 2021 if Brexit was to happen and we didn’t go relatively soon, then the idea that Brexit might become normalised is quite a worry. People will get used to it, it will actually be normal. So that, I think, I know, is also in Nicola’s mind.” Many independence activists, backed by some SNP parliamentarians, believe Sturgeon is being far too timid and should stage a referendum without the approval of the UK government, and quickly. The acting leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Jackson Carlaw, said Brown was endorsing that stance in private.
Pressed to clarify his remarks, Brown issued a statement on Twitter saying he had meant that Sturgeon should not be dissuaded from preparing for a referendum before she had won the legal right to stage it. “Nicola Sturgeon and Keith Brown are telling party activists one thing, while telling the public quite another,” he said. “In public, they tell us they’re focused on the day job. In private, they’re secretly plotting for an illegal referendum.”
He tweeted: “My position is clear – the deeply undemocratic stance of the UK government in denying the mandate for indyref and refusing a s30 order should not prevent the Scottish government seeking one and planning on the basis of winning that case.” Sturgeon’s advisers warn taging an unofficial referendum risks alienating wavering voters, could undermine confidence in her record for responsible government, and bog her government down in lengthy court battles. She could also be accused of illegally spending public money or overstepping Holyrood’s legal powers.
The 2014 Scottish independence referendum was held after Sturgeon’s predecessor as first minister, Alex Salmond, and David Cameron negotiated a section 30 order and signed the Edinburgh agreement. Sturgeon has repeatedly said she wants to follow that model. It is also highly likely to be boycotted by pro-UK parties and will not be recognised by foreign governments, financial institutions or businesses. While the SNP remains by far Scotland’s most popular party, support for independence stands at about 45%, despite the Brexit crisis.
The SNP has been asked to comment on Brown’s remarks. Sturgeon is due to make a further speech in Holyrood on a second vote this month, once there is clarity over Brexit. She said last month “calm consideration” was needed.
Jackson Carlaw, the acting Scottish Conservative leader, said: “People are sick to the back teeth of the nationalists’ games. In 2014 we had a fair, legal and decisive referendum. To push now, just five years later, for an illegal, unwanted and deeply divisive re-run would show once and for all that Sturgeon’s SNP no longer stands for Scotland, it stands only for itself.” Her spokesman said she would set out her precise thinking then, and denied the Scottish government was planning to hold a referendum without first getting a section 30 order. “She will set out the next steps when she sets out the next steps,” he said.
There is speculation Sturgeon favours delaying it until after the 2021 Scottish elections but in Aberdeen, Brown said Sturgeon had sympathy with hardliner’s arguments that any further delay would allow Brexit to become “normalised” in voters’ minds.
“The other thing that’s worth bearing in mind is, in 2021, if Brexit was to happen, and we didn’t go relatively soon, then the idea that Brexit might become normalised is quite a worry,” he said.
“People will get used to it, it will actually be normal. So, that, I think, I know, is also in Nicola’s mind.”
Scottish independenceScottish independence
Scottish National party (SNP)Scottish National party (SNP)
Nicola SturgeonNicola Sturgeon
Scottish politicsScottish politics
ScotlandScotland
Constitutional reformConstitutional reform
Brexit
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