Sturgeon could delay Indyref2 decision

Nicola Sturgeon has raised the possibility of delaying her decision on another independence referendum.

The First Minister has repeatedly said she will make a call on whether to issue a fresh Indyref2 demand once the terms of Brexit are clear, which is due in the autumn.

Ms Sturgeon cast doubt on getting the clarity she requires from Theresa May in that time frame during a television interview yesterday.

“I become more and more doubtful that by the autumn of this year we are going to be any further forward to knowing what the future relationship is than we are at the moment,” she told Peston on Sunday.

A retreat from an Indyref2 decision this year would dismay grassroots campaigners desperate to see a breakaway vote in the short term to capitalise on anti-brexit sentiment.

The SNP leader has already backed down on an independence referendum after her party lost 480,000 votes in last year’s general election.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said Ms Sturgeon has neither the mandate nor the public’s support for another referendum.

She told Sunday Politics Scotland: “We know that Nicola Sturgeon always wants one but she has got this high wire act with her own party about when she thinks she can call one.”