SNP: WE’LL HOLD POLL LIKE IT OR NOT

Sturgeon taunts ‘frightened’ Johnson and says she will call vote after elections in May

NICOLA Sturgeon goaded Boris Johnson over the Union yesterday saying she will hold an advisory referendum on independence if her party wins in May.

Scotland’s first minister accused the Prime Minister of being ‘frightened of democracy’ and insisted the poll would go ahead regardless of whether Westminster consented to it.

‘I want to have a legal referendum, that’s what I’m going to seek the authority of the Scottish people for in May,’ she told BBC1’s Andrew Marr show. ‘And if they give me that authority that’s what I intend to do: to have a legal referendum to give people the right to choose.

‘That’s democracy. It’s not about what I want or what Boris Johnson wants.’

This method was used by Catalonia in 2017 to argue that it should be independent of Spain, but it attracted a low turnout and was declared unconstitutional. Several independence leaders were later jailed for their parts in the vote. Polls yesterday suggested another Scottish referendum could end up with a 5248 victory for independence. They are in keeping with a series of surveys showing nationalist support growing amid dissatisfaction with Westminster’s handling of the pandemic.

Mr Johnson argues that the last poll in 2014 was described by then SNP leader Alex Salmond as a ‘once in a generation’ question. However, Scottish nationalists say that Brexit, which Scotland opposed, changed the narrative and requires another referendum.

Their party is expected to enjoy a clean sweep of seats at local elections in May. Asked about the prospect of another referendum yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said of the PM: ‘He’s frightened of democracy. The polls now show that a majority of people in Scotland now want independence.’

The Sunday Times yesterday published the results of opinion polls in the four nations showing voters expect Scotland to leave the UK.