Gove hints Scots south of the border could vote in new independence poll

HUNDREDS of thousands of Scots living in the rest of the UK could be given the vote in a second independence referendum, Michael Gove indicated yesterday, stirring fury among SNP ranks.

The Cabinet Office minister, directed by Boris Johnson to protect the Union, tweeted that extending the franchise to include Scots based south of the border was an “interesting idea”.

He was responding to a post by fellow Scot George Galloway, who argued that “795,000 Scots living elsewhere in the UK MUST have a vote” if there was another separation referendum. Mr Galloway, the former Glasgow Kelvin MP, said: “If UK expats can vote in general elections from Spain, then an existential question like separatism MUST be answered by all Scots.”

However, his intervention was met with a hostile response from senior separatists, with Mike Russell, the SNP’S constitution minister, accusing Mr Gove of trying to gerrymander the vote following a recent poll that showed 55 per cent support for independence among resident Scots.

Mr Russell said unionists were already trying to “nobble the question” on the ballot paper and claimed that he would not even get a vote under Mr Galloway’s system because he was born in Bromley, Kent. However, this claim was ridiculed by Andrew Neil, the Scots-born BBC political broadcaster based in London, who noted that Mr Russell was on the electoral roll in Scotland and that the proposal only related to Scots who were not.

It also emerged that Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon’s White Paper before the 2014 referendum stated that Scots living in the rest of the UK would be considered citizens of a separate Scotland.

Mr Gove’s brief comment raised eyebrows as it was the first time a senior UK Cabinet minister had appeared to engage with the concept of a second independence referendum, the so-called indyref2, which is vigorously opposed by the UK Government.

Senior Tory insiders insisted Mr Gove, who was raised in Aberdeen, was “having fun” by making mischief with the SNP and that there had been no change in Conservative policy. He was on holiday this week.

David Cameron and Mr Salmond negotiated the rules around the timing, franchise and ballot paper question for the 2014 referendum in the Edinburgh Agreement, which gave the vote to those resident in Scotland but not Scots living elsewhere.

However, Mr Gove’s intervention raised the prospect of the Prime Minister making a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer of another vote to Ms Sturgeon on his terms, adding that Scots living elsewhere in the UK would likely benefit the unionist side.

Angus Robertson, the SNP’S former Westminster leader, said any change to the franchise “looks desperate and undemocratic”, with opinion polls showing a “consistent majority” in favour of separation.

The row broke out after two polls this week showed majority support for independence. But a new Yougov survey yesterday found only 36 per cent of Scots considered independence “one of the most important issues facing the country”, while 56 per cent said it “distracts” from other matters.