‘Shelve referendum indefinitely’
● Former SNP leader’s warning after poll shows no appetite for vote
A former SNP leader has called on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to put any plans for a second vote on Scottish independence on hold “indefinitely”.
Gordon Wilson made the call after an opinion poll showed that most Scots did not want a second ballot on leaving the UK to be held in 2017.
The BMG poll found that, when those who are unsure are excluded, 61.5 per cent were against holding a fresh vote in 2017, compared to 38.5 per cent who would support it.
Those who were against another vote this year included almost one-third of those who said they were SNP supporters.
The Scottish Government is consulting on a draft referendum bill after the UK as a whole voted to leave the European Union while a majority in Scotland voted remain – a result which led Ms Sturgeon to warn another ballot on Scottish independence was “highly likely”.
Excluding “don’t knows”, the poll puts support for an independent Scotland at 45.5 per cent – almost identical to the result in 2014, when Scotland voted by 55 per cent to 45 per cent to remain in the UK.
A total of 1,002 Scots were surveyed for the research, which was carried out between 9 and 13 December.
Mr Wilson, who was the SNP leader from 1979 to 1990, said: “When the facts change, so should policy. The BMG poll today confirms that there is no appetite for an immediate Independence referendum.
“It is worrying for the SNP that a third of SNP voters also don’t want one – a figure close to the number who voted Leave. Indyref2 should be shelved indefinitely until a better case is made.”
Instead Mr Wilson suggested SNP leaders “change tack”, adding: “Over the last two years since the 2014 referendum, there has been no attempt to build a case for independence.
“Where are the solutions on the currency and budget? Why has there been no attempt to explain how Scotland could be better off with full control of economic policy?”
An SNP spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government has produced a detailed plan which would keep Scotland in the European Single Market even if the rest of the UK leaves and Theresa May should be given the opportunity to consider those proposals.
“But it can’t be right to sit back and accept everything this increasingly right-wing Tory Westminster government wants to do to Scotland no matter the cost to our economy, public services and living standards.”