Candidate Doig will ‘push for independence straight away’
LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER
Renfrewshire South MSP candidate Andy Doig has vowed to push for independence negotiations to begin immediately if he is elected into office as a part of a pro- indy majority.
T h e In d e p e n d e nt councillor has said his party Scotia Future would get behind a post-election motion calling for dialogue to begin with the UK Government straight away, which Alex Salmond’s Alba party has indicated it would bring to the table if any of its candidates secure a seat.
Mr Doig is standing on the constituency ballot alongside Scotia Future leader Chic Brodie, who is bidding to take the Ayr seat. Both politicians are also running in the regional list vote.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed she would instruct SNP MSPs not to vote for an immediate referendum push and would instead place her initial focus on recovery from the pandemic if she is re-elected.
But Mr Doig insisted this proved the nationalists were not serious about breaking away from the UK.
“Nicola Sturgeon’s reluctance begs real questions about the SNP’s commitment to independence these days,” said the elected member, who currently represents Johnstone North and surrounding villages on Renfrewshire Council.
“The tragic irony here is in the late 1980s Margaret Thatcher, as prime minister, accepted the legitimacy of a nationalist parliamentary mandate for independence, yet now we seem to have an SNP leader saying a nationalist majority in Holyrood in 2021 is not enough.
“She is definitely not serious about independence.
“Scotia Future would support a motion calling for independence negotiations to begin in the event of a proindy majority.”
Ms Stu r g e o n ha s previously suggested her preference would be to ask the UK Government to agree to a Section 30 order– which would allow the Scottish Government to launch an independence referendum with Westminster’s blessing – rather than initiate any socalled “wildcat” ballot.
But Mr Doig has said this would not be the only way to secure a legal and binding referendum.
He added: “A Section 30 is not the only democratic route to independence. Part 1, Article 1, of the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( 1976), which the UK has signed, would underpin the validity of a nationalist parliamentary majority in international law.”
Mr Doig is up against the SNP’s Tom Arthur, Derek Stillie of the Conservatives, Labour’s Paul O’Kane and Christine Cosh of the Liberal Democrats in the Renfrewshire South poll.
The result of the vote is expected to be declared at Braehead Arena on Saturday afternoon.