‘PLAN B’ BID REJECTED

AN ATTEMPT by SNP activists to force a conference debate on securing independence without a referendum failed yesterday following an intervention by the party leadership.

The so-called plan B, backed by Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny, wasn’t discussed on the conference floor after delegates in Aberdeen rejected the bid to put it on the agenda.

The Scottish Government’s policy of achieving independence centres around winning majority support through a referendum. However, with the UK Government insisting they will oppose another vote, some SNP figures have been looking for an alternative.

Under the McEleny proposal, pro-independence parties winning a majority of seats at either a general or Holyrood election would be considered a mandate for independence.

He wanted delegates at the party’s conference to debate the issue and tried to change the agenda.

Ahead of his attempt, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon made clear her opposition to the policy.

She said in an interview: “If I thought there was a quicker way, an easier way, a plan B, that would get us out quicker, I would have taken it by now.”

And SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “Plan Bs are by definition second best.

“We should demand and win the gold standard for democracy and for our country.”

Before his bid was rejected yesterday, McEleny said: “I think that as a democratic political party, it’s absolutely legitimate that we, the grassroots members of this party, have at least the opportunity to debate a plan B at our party conference.”