Osborne tells US there will not be another referendum

GEORGE Osborne has ruled out a second independence referendum for Scotland, telling a US audience the Nationalist MPs were ‘a noisy and aggressive bloc’ in the House of Commons.

In New York, the Chancellor told foreign policy experts there would not be another vote on separation ‘at least for a generation’.

‘The Scottish Nationalists are not asking for another referendum,’ he told the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. ‘And it was agreed before we had the referendum that the outcome would be decisive and that would settle the issue at least for a generation, if not for people’s lifetimes.

‘As far as I am concerned, the deal done before the referendum is the deal that should stay after the referendum.’

In a further remark that will infuriate the new Nationalist intake of MPs, Mr Osborne said: ‘They are a noisy and aggressive bloc in the House of Commons that are not trying to be part of the UK Government and that is a departure.’

He told the foreign policy experts: ‘It would be a tragedy if Scotland left the United Kingdom. Thankfully, the Scottish people chose not to do that.’

Since the referendum, Scots have voted overwhelmingly for the SNP in the General Election.

Mr Osborne said: ‘Whether that ends up being some kind of settled position of Scotland, where they elect a Nationalist government but don’t want to leave the UK, I don’t know. Certainly, if anything, it’s an opportunity for the Conservative Party to rebuild itself in Scotland a little.’

An SNP spokesman said: ‘It will be up to the people of Scotland – not George Osborne – to decide when there is another independence referendum.’