Sturgeon climbdown: Independence vote may happen AFTER Brexit

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday conceded she could be willing to wait until after Brexit for a second Scottish independence referendum after Theresa May told her ‘now is not the time’.

The First Minister had first called for a vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, when Brexit negotiations would be in the process of being finalised, but backed down after the Prime Minister took a firm stance against her proposal.

Her apparent climbdown came yesterday as the SNP was accused of being in a muddle over whether they would be able to keep the pound or not post independence.

In an interview on ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme, Miss Sturgeon admitted there may be ‘room for discussions’ about the timing of the proposed referendum.

But when asked if a date in 2021 would be acceptable, she replied: ‘I don’t think that is reasonable.’

‘I’m up for a discussion within reason, but this is not a timetable that should be determined by what is convenient for Theresa May any more than it should be determined by what is convenient for me,’ she said.

‘It should be determined by what is right for the Scottish people, and I think when the terms of Brexit are clear, but before it is too late for us to choose a different path, is what would be best.’

Miss Sturgeon yesterday admitted that she does not know which currency an independent Scotland would use.

She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that it would keep the pound because it is ‘our currency as much as it is the currency of anywhere else’.

‘The starting point for consideration is that Scotland would use the pound,’ she said. But she also insisted she would apply for full membership of the EU, which would press Scotland to join the euro.

Former first minister Alex Salmond yesterday suggested Scotland might ditch the pound and establish its own currency.

But he faced embarrassment after he dismissed his promise before the 2014 independence referendum that there would not be a rerun for a generation or even a lifetime as a ‘collective myth’.

During an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, Mr Salmond claimed he had not used the phrase ‘once in a lifetime’ to describe the vote and insisted he had instead said it was the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’.

However, footage showed he did use the ‘once in a lifetime’ phrase.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on the Sunday before the vote in 2014, Mr Salmond said: ‘In my view this is a once in a generation – perhaps even a once in a lifetime – opportunity.’