Greens mask slips on election plan
NICOLA Sturgeon could be left with no option but to use the next general election to try to force an independence referendum, the Scottish Greens leader has said.
Patrick Harvie said that while he would prefer a referendum, if this is blocked the next general election could be the ‘only ability we have then to put the question to the public’.
Mr Harvie, whose party is in a power-sharing agreement with the SNP at Holyrood, said: ‘I think it is preferable Scotland’s democratic mandate is respected.
‘If repeated pro-independence majorities in both parliaments isn’t enough for a mandate what on earth is? What is the democratic legitimacy they finally would respect?
‘We will go to court and we will seek permission to take that referendum forward.
‘And, if the answer is no, clearly we are going to have to use the following election, that is the only ability we have then to put the question to the public.’
Tory net zero spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘Patrick Harvie let the mask slip by admitting the pursuit of independence trumps all else for his party – just as it does for the SNP.
‘The fact that in a climate emergency the Scottish Greens are prepared to fight the next election solely on the constitution is breathtaking.’
It came as Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton warned that his party’s 2019 general election campaign fought on stopping Brexit should serve as a warning against the SNP’s plans for a ‘de facto referendum’
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: ‘I think that the SNP can learn the lesson that was taught to the Liberal Democrats at that election. This was not a policy that went down well.’