Sturgeon told to wait until 2039 for new Scots referendum
NICOLA STURGEON should be forced to wait until at least 2039 for a second Scottish independence referendum, a government minister has said, as the First Minister threatened to press ahead with her own vote.
Mark Spencer, the Commons Leader, told MPS there should be a 25-year gap from the 2014 vote before the issue could be considered again.
He argued that this would tally with promises by Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon that the vote less than eight years ago was a “once-in-a-generation” event. Mr Spencer’s intervention came shortly after the First Minister launched a new campaign for separation, stating she was “ready” to hold talks with Boris Johnson over transferring the necessary powers for another vote.
If he refused any such discussions over agreeing a Section 30 order, the legislative device required, she pledged to “forge a way forward” so the Scottish Parliament could stage its own legal referendum.
Ms Sturgeon promised to provide a “significant update” to Holyrood very soon on her plan, amid widespread scepticism about her timetable for a vote next year, which polls indicate is opposed by a majority of Scots.
But, challenged time and again at a press conference, she refused to spell out how this would be lawful given constitutional affairs are reserved to Westminster.
Her silence on the key issue came as Downing Street again rejected the case for an independence vote. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The UK Government’s position is that now is not the time to be talking about another referendum.”
Mr Johnson pointed out the Scottish people voted No in a referendum “only a few years ago; in recent memory” and urged Ms Sturgeon to “respect that”.
He said: “I think we should also focus on what I think the people of the whole of the UK – Scotland, England, everybody – wants us to look at, which is the economic position we are in, the effect of Covid on the country and then the post-covid issues that we’re grappling with.” Mr Spencer went further, telling
the Commons that “once-in-a-generation is certainly not five years, I think that would be more nearer to 25 years before it should be considered again”.
A No 10 spokesman distanced himself from the timescale, saying: “While I don’t think there’s a specific government definition, I’m sure we are united in our view that now is not the time to be talking about another referendum.”
Ms Sturgeon used a press conference at her Bute House residence in Edinburgh to unveil the first in a series of papers, drawn up by her civil servants, that will together form a new independence prospectus.
In a repeat of an argument the nationalists made before the 2014 vote, the document compared the UK’S economic performance with that of a handpicked group of small nations and concluded Scotland would be better off independent.
Subsequent papers will look at areas including currency, tax and spend, defence, social security and pensions, and EU membership and trade. Ms Sturgeon
was forced to admit that a separate Scotland in the EU would now cause “challenges” at the border with England “in terms of regulatory and customs requirements”.
Arguing that any referendum must be lawful if the result is to be respected, Ms Sturgeon said: “We know that in these circumstances the competence of the Scottish Parliament to legislate is contested. “And that, therefore, is the situation we must navigate to give people the choice of independence.” She said work by her officials on this question was “well under way” but repeatedly refused to provide any details.
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said: “Pushing for another divisive referendum – possibly even an illegal wildcat referendum – is the wrong priority at the worst possible time.”
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said: “For Nicola Sturgeon to turn her back on the issues facing the people of Scotland and decide at this point to focus on her own obsession is a sad example of how out of touch this government is.”