The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sturgeon throws party’s weight behind EU vote
Leader finally backs calls for a second referendum over Brexit deal
Nicola Sturgeon threw her party’s weight behind the campaign for a second EU referendum as SNP activists gathered for their conference.
The first minister ended months of refusing to categorically back the so-called People’s Vote by saying her MPs would “undoubtedly” support Euroref2 in a Commons vote.
However, she called for guarantees that another Remain vote in Scotland would be respected.
Earlier, the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said an independence referendum must follow if Scots reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal in a public vote.
Ms Sturgeon told Andrew Marr: “I think SNP MPs would undoubtedly vote for a second EU referendum.
“Of course we’d want to talk to other parties about how Scotland doesn’t find itself in the same situation as last time,” the party leader said.
The SNP conference kicked off in Glasgow yesterday as a Survation poll revealed a no-deal Brexit would lead to majority support for independence, with 52% backing a Scots breakaway.
If a deal of some kind was struck then the Yes-No result after exit day would be 50-50, the survey in The Sun and The Herald found. Meanwhile, a poll in The Sunday Times shows support for independence would merely grow in the case of a no-deal Brexit, but would be shy of a majority.
The Panelbase survey of 1,024 voters in Scotland found support for leaving the UK would increase from 45% in September 2014 to 48% while support for staying would fall from 55% to 52%.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “Thank goodness the first minister has seen sense on a People’s Vote. It’s taken long enough. “But we need them to fight for it.” Ms Sturgeon said Scotland is “on a journey that will end in independence”, but added the lack of clarity on Brexit meant she could not say when this year she would update the country on her plans for Indyref2.
Mr Blackford told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday: “If there’s a People’s Vote, we need to make sure our position is protected. We must have the right – if we are being dragged out of Europe, if we are being dragged out of the single market and customs union – that we have that ability to determine our own future.”