SNP ‘on verge of civil war’ over shelving of Indyref 2
NICOLA Sturgeon is facing growing pressure from within her own party to take a second independence referendum off the table.
Senior Nationalist MP Tommy Sheppard said the SNP leader’s latest bid to rip Scotland out of the UK should be ‘parked’ until after Brexit negotiations are concluded.
Alex Bell, a former special adviser to Alex Salmond, has urged the party to ‘shut up about Indyref 2’, while former deputy leader Jim Sillars said more work needed to be done on the case for separation before demanding a vote.
Meanwhile, former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said on Saturday that the First Minister should ‘abandon’ her push for another referendum because there is neither the ‘mood’ nor support for one among the Scottish public.
In a clear sign of the burgeoning civil war within the SNP, Deputy First Minister John Swinney yesterday indicated the party is still plotting to hold a vote at the end of the Brexit negotiations in 2019.
But Scottish Secretary David Mundell said there are ‘no circumstances’ in which a referendum could take place before the next Holyrood elections in 2021.
The Tories soared from one seat in Scotland to 13 after vowing to oppose an independence referendum until the Brexit process has played out – and until there is clear ‘public consent’.
A Survation poll last week showed 60 per cent of Scots want Miss Sturgeon to drop her demands, while only 27 per cent want her to keep it on the table.
Writing in a pro-independence newspaper yesterday, Mr Sheppard – elected to the SNP’s national executive committee in 2015 – states: ‘Amid the current chaos in Westminster it seems certain that a hard Brexit is now off the table, and the possibility of bespoke solutions for nations and regions is growing.
‘It is now an option to wait until the Brexit negotiations conclude before forming a view on whether the extent of change justifies a second independence referendum. This would mean that while a second referendum remains an option the timetable gets parked.’
The SNP has lost 21 of the 56 seats it won in 2015. Mr Sheppard, a former assistant general secretary of Scottish Labour under John Smith, said SNP supporters had switched to Labour because of Jeremy Corbyn – and said the SNP is in ‘danger of being seen as the establishment’. His comments came after he dropped out of the race to become the SNP’s leader at Westminster after saying he could not attract enough support on the Left of the party.
Miss Sturgeon said in March there must be a referendum between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019. But after the backlash from Scots voters in the General Election, she said she would take time to ‘reflect’ on what the result meant.
Mr Bell said the party should ‘shut up about Indyref 2’.
In a newspaper article published yesterday, he wrote: ‘Sturgeon should do the right thing by the nation and commit to real improvement in health and education, knowing the benefits may not be evident until after the [next] election, and do the right thing by independence by explaining why short- to mid-term risk is worth taking for long-term gain.
‘Until that time, shut up about Indyref 2. The UK is in genuine crisis and there’s no loss of face in letting that settle until some undetermined date.
‘And shut up about Brexit – play a part in softening it but stop making it seem like the business of Holyrood to fix.’
Mr Sillars said time was needed to work on the case for independence – including the approach to currency – before calling a vote. But on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland programme yesterday, Mr Swinney said: ‘Our proposal always was that we should have this referendum, if we have it, at the end of the Brexit process.
‘The Prime Minister has told us [the end of Brexit] is two years away from the triggering of Article 50 and that’s been the clear commitment of the UK Government and we set our proposals on the basis of that commitment.’
Theresa May has refused to discuss another referendum amid Brexit negotiations.
Yesterday, Mr Mundell said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon should not be in denial about that... I don’t see any circumstances in which there is going to be an independence referendum before the 2021 Scottish parliament elections.’
Comment – Page 16
‘Timetable gets parked’ ‘Do right thing by the nation’