Indyref2 off agenda when Scots cabinet met

● The question of whether to hold another independence vote not discussed at first meeting since the election confirms SNP

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was accused of being “in denial” over plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence after the issue was not discussed in cabinet yesterday.

Cabinet secretaries instead focussed on trying to engineer a soft Brexit when they gathered in Edinburgh.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Separation has been the centrepiece of her personal agenda, and its absence from discussions in cabinet is evidence of her complete denial.”

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of being “in denial” over what the Scottish Government should do about another independence referendum after failing to discuss the issue at her first Cabinet meeting since the election.

Despite the First Minister facing calls to ditch her plans for another poll following the loss of 21 SNP MPS last week, the subject did not merit a mention when SNP ministers met to examine the impact of last Thursday’s vote.

Cabinet secretaries instead focussed on trying to engineer a soft Brexit when they gathered in Edinburgh.

Ms Sturgeon has admitted that the prospect of another independence vote was a factor in the SNP’S dramatic decline and has said she would reflect on her indyref2 policy.

The First Minister’s spokesman was asked if Ms Sturgeon’s pledge to reflect on her referendum demand had been mentioned during the meeting and if she intended to go ahead with her Referendum Bill.

The spokesman said: “I’ll allow the First minister to take forward her views on that in due course. As she said on Friday after the election, she is going to reflect on the election outcome and she will come back on that in due course.”

When pressed directly on whether another referendum was mentioned in Cabinet, the spokesman said: “There was no discussion.

“There was a discussion on the outcome of the election and the way it related to Brexit. There was no specific discussion of a referendum.”

But the failure to examine the indyref2 question was condemned by the snp’ s opponents.

Last night Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw criticised the lack of Cabinet discussion on another independence referendum.

He said: “We can only hope in the absence of any independence discussion, ministers instead addressed the Scottish Government’s terrible domestic record on devolved matters.

“But the reality is, until Nicola Sturgeon takes the threat of another referendum off the table, no-one will believe it’s not her priority.

“Separation has been the centrepiece of her personal agenda, and its absence from discussions at cabinet is evidence of her complete denial on the issue.”

The news came as it emerged that the SNP has dropped a referendum fund-raising drive from its ref.scot website. The donations drive was taken offline last week, by which time it had raised £482,000.

A SNP spokesman said the party had not been actively raising money on that website since the election was called.

Today the First Minister will come under further pressure to set out her indyref position when her opponents use a Holyrood debate on the economy to call for her to rule one out. She will also face questions about the SNP’S poor election performance when her MSPS attend a party group meeting.

Before the election, Ms Sturgeon argued that the SNP winning a majority north of the Border would reinforce her mandate for a second referendum.

She said such a result would act as a “triple lock” when combined with the Scottish election result and the proreferendum vote at Holyrood.

Despite losing seats, the SNP did emerge as the largest Scottish party in the House of Commons.

When asked about the triple lock, Ms Sturgeon’s spokesman said: “That was the outcome of the election. The condition that was set out in the manifesto has been met, but in terms of how things are taken forward, I’m not going to preempt anything the First Minister will say on this.”

Ms Sturgeon’s Cabinet did discuss playing a part in ensuring an alternative to a hard Brexit emerges following the general election and underlined its commitment to keeping Scotland in the single market.

The Conservatives’ new block of 13 Scottish MPS issued a joint statement stepping up their opposition to another independence poll. It said: “Since June last year, Nicola Sturgeon has focused solely on independence and how she can force a second referendum on Scotland.”

The Scottish LIT is arrogant and absurd that the SNP Leader thinks that losing 13 per cent of the vote and 21 MPS, including the former First Minister and Deputy Leader, is an endorsement of her plans for independence.

“The SNP should hold a debate in parliament next week so that MSPS can vote to rule out another independence referendum for the next four years.”

“The prospect of a second referendum alarmed the majority of Scots who do not want to face another painful period of upheaval and division.she asked them to vote on it – and the SNP lost 21 seats and half a million votes. It was a damning verdict.”

Labour business manager James Kelly said: “Clearly independence has become the elephant in the room for Nicola Sturgeon. We want the Scottish Cabinet focused on jobs, schools and hospitals – but it is staggering that SNP ministers did not discuss dropping a referendum given Thursday’s result.”