STURGEON FUDGE ON SECOND POLL
She fails to rule out vote... then says we have to respect last one
NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday warned supporters she would not automatically force another independence referendum on Scots, as she launched her bid to secure a decade in office.
The First Minister tried to calm fears among Unionists about a second contest, in the hope of winning a landslide victory in May’s Holyrood election.
Even a ‘thumping win’ would not be enough to trigger another battle, she claimed.
But in an attempt to appease agitated supporters, Miss Sturgeon revealed that something as simple as a string of positive opinion polls for independence would be enough to reopen the constitutional question that was decisively answered last year.
And despite promising that the result of the last referendum would stand for a generation, she claimed that an Out vote in David Cameron’s forthcoming EU referendum – and an In vote in Scotland – would ‘breach the terms’ of the September 2014 battle.
Her attempt to balance desires on both sides of the independence debate came as SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson signalled that going to war in Syria could be another referendum trigger.
Elsewhere in Aberdeen on the first day of the party’s largest ever conference:
Miss Sturgeon said she hopes to contest the 2021 election as leader, potentially staying in office for more than a decade.
The First Minister killed off any possibility of alliance with Labour l eader Jeremy Corbyn, despite sharing many policy platforms.
The conference rejected a bid to reopen the divisive question of the party’s support for Nato membership, in another bid to avoid public splits.
The SNP’s membership surge since last year’s referendum means the only Scottish city venues large enough to accommodate its annual conferences are now in Glasgow and Aberdeen. This week’s event now resembles a UK party conference, with corporate giants such as McDonald’s purchasing exhibition space and the world’s media present to watch proceedings.
There is huge support for separation among delegates, yet there will be no debate in the main hall about holding another snap referendum.
In her welcome address, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘To propose another referendum in the next parliament without strong evidence that a significant number of those who voted No have changed their minds would be wrong and we won’t do it.
‘It would not be respecting the decision that people made.’
But the SNP leader added: ‘Over the next few years, as the Tories impose even deeper cuts, press ahead with Trident renewal and fail to honour in full the vow of more powers for our parliament, I think support for independence will continue to rise.
‘So let me also be clear about this. If there is strong and consistent evidence that people have changed their minds and that independence has become the choice of a clear majority in this country, then we have no right to rule out a referendum and we won’t do that either.’
With David Cameron planning to stage a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, Miss Sturgeon claimed that if Scotland were removed from the EU ‘against our democratic wishes’ on the basis of votes in England, that demand for another ballot on independence could be ‘unstoppable’.
Asked whether the Syrian conflict could lead to another referendum, Westminster leader Mr Robertson told the [London] Evening Standard: ‘It’s entirely possible that we could find ourselves within this next year involved in yet another war, beginning the process of leaving the European Union, committing to spend £100billion on the renewal of [Trident]... which is a gargantuan waste of money for something that we can never use.
‘These are all massive political issues. I don’t think there is any automaticity about an independence referendum, but we look at all of these particular issues with great concern.’
Labour MP John Woodcock said it was ‘sickening’ that the ‘SNP use even slaughter of Syrian civilians to pursue their obsession with a second referendum’.
In the run-up to his landslide victory in Labour’s leadership contest, Mr Corbyn said he believed he could form a Left-wing alliance with the SNP on key issues in Westminster.
However, Miss Sturgeon yesterday claimed this was no longer a realis- tic prospect. ‘ You know, there is much that I hoped the SNP and Jeremy Corbyn could work together on,’ she said.
‘But over these last few weeks, it has become glaringly obvious that he is unable to unite his party on any of the big issues of our day.
‘ Whether on the economy or Trident, or even the question of whether UK forces should take part in air strikes on Syria, Labour is a party divided and in disarray.’
Last night, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: ‘Despite promising that last year’s independence referendum would be a “once in a generation” event, it’s clear the SNP is itching for a rematch and sees the timing of a second referendum as just being a matter of finding the right excuse. Every vote for the SNP will be used by Nicola Sturgeon as the excuse she needs to call a second poll.’
‘Support will continue to rise’