First Minister refuses to be drawn on claim Indyref2 could take place this year

NICOLA Sturgeon has refused to be drawn on SNP comments that a second independence referendum could take place “as early as late 2021”.

The First Minister was asked about the issue at the Scottish Government’s regular coronavirus briefing.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford mentioned potential timings in an interview with the PA news agency.

He said: “Of course what I would say is that the first priority of the Government is dealing with the Covid crisis, it’s about keeping people safe, it’s about the acceleration that we’ve seen with the vaccine programme, it’s about taking off the measures of lockdown as and when we can.

“But we do that based on data, we do that based on evidence, we do that based on keeping people safe.

“When we’ve got to that position of safety, that would be the right time to have the referendum.”

He added: “[Scottish Constitution Secretary Mike Russell] has talked about a six-month period once the legislation is triggered which could be in June, so it could be the case we could face a referendum as early as late 2021. But the key thing is that we put in place the circumstances that allow that to happen, whenever it happens, and that we have an inclusive debate with everybody in Scotland about the kind of country that they want to live in.”

Ms Sturgeon previously said a second referendum should be held “in the earlier part” of the next Scottish Parliament term.

Asked about Mr Blackford’s comments, she said: “I’m not getting into political questions right now.

“This is a Covid briefing. I’m going to stick to that today.

“My focus is on Covid and doing what is right around Covid for as long as it takes. That’s what I am here to talk about today.”

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said there is

“nothing more reckless and wholly irresponsible than pushing for another referendum as early as this year, when all our efforts should be on tackling Covid-19 and protecting jobs”.

He added: “We need to focus on the current crisis, not create a whole new one with another divisive referendum.

“The health crisis may soon be over thanks to the resounding success of Scotland and the UK’S vaccine scheme but the next great challenge, the economic crisis, is still to come.

“We need a Scottish Parliament 100 per cent focused on dealing with that looming jobs and economic crisis. We must focus on rebuilding Scotland, not another divisive referendum.”

Scottish Labour MSP Colin Smyth said: “At a time of national crisis, the public want our politicians to focus on what unites our country – not more division. It is irresponsible and out of step for Ian Blackford to say the priority should be another referendum, not a Covid recovery plan to rebuild Scotland after the pandemic.”