Rebels set to launch fresh ‘Plan B’ independence drive
SNP rebels have launched a fresh push for a “Plan B” route to independence.
Western Isles MP Angus Macneil and Inverclyde councillor Chris Mceleny said they will bring forward proposals for an alternative Indyref2 strategy at the SNP’S conference in June.
They argue that by that point there will be “no realistic prospect of a referendum happening in 2020, and the 2021 Holyrood election cannot be fought just to gain the same mandate that’s been ignored repeatedly without the SNP having any Plan B to ensure the Prime Minister has a political price to pay”. The pair say that if the UK Government continues to refuse to grant a second poll, then the legality of holding a consultative referendum without Westminster’s approval must be pursued ahead of the 2021 election.
They also want the SNP manifesto to include a pledge to enter straight into independence negotiations if another pro-independence majority is secured at Holyrood and a referendum continues to be denied.
The plan flies in the face of Nicola Sturgeon’s insistence that only a legal referendum based on the “gold standard” of 2014 would be regarded as internationally credible.
Mr Mceleny said: “If the UK Government continues to refuse us our right to exercise democracy via an agreed referendum then we should rely on our own sovereign and democratic parliament to deliver that.
“If the Section 30 demand is not acceded to then we must have a Plan B to ensure Boris Johnson’s undemocratic position has a political price to pay.
“We absolutely need to establish the ability to hold a consultative referendum on our future.
“It is our preferred choice to achieve our independence through a referendum, but if we are denied the right to hold a referendum on our future then we must take our destiny into our own hands.
“The consented referendum policy of the SNP is not integral to our national cause. In 2021 a parliamentary vote for the SNP should be a vote for Scottish independence.
“And if we win that vote then we shall deliver what our party was born to achieve.”
Last year, delegates at the SNP conference overwhelmingly refused to debate a Plan B on independence. Mr Mceleny was even booed.