Harvie: Bill to hold Indyref2 being prepared for unveiling
LEGISLATION to hold a second independence referendum using Holyrood powers is to be introduced into the Scottish Parliament imminently, according to the Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie.
Mr Harvie, who is a minister in the Scottish Government, also underlined that it was still the administration’s plan to hold a vote on the country’s future next year despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Ahead of the 2014 referendum the UK and Scottish governments agreed a process whereby power was transferred to Holyrood in order to hold the vote.
However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not agree to such a move for a second referendum to be held.
His position has led the Scottish Government to set out its intention of organising the referendum using devolved powers.
Asked by The Herald when the referendum Bill will laid before MSPS, Mr Harvie said: “I think there will be an announcement on that before too long. I don’t think a date has absolutely been fixed. There are one or two hoops the Scottish Government has to jump through before formally laying a Bill, like submitting it to the Presiding Officer.
“But the Bill itself will be fairly short and simple actually, as the last parliament already passed framework legislation for referendums.
“So, we don’t actually need a big and substantive Bill as we had for the last one because we already have all of that framework legislation in place.
“So, you will hear before very long what the timescale is for that, but it will be fully in line with the intention to hold an independence referendum in the timescale that we promised.”
Earlier this week, the SNP’S Westminster leader Ian Blackford suggested there could be a delay to Indyref2 in the wake of war in Ukraine breaking out.
Mr Harvie was speaking to The Herald as his party gathers today for its spring conference in Stirling.
Asked about a possible delay as a result of the war, he said: “Obviously, the events of the next few weeks may determine whether this is a crisis that is de-escalated or one which becomes a much more dangerous and much more protracted European war that we all want to avoid. We want to do everything we can, of course, to argue for de-escalation and to try and make that successful.
“We want to do everything we possibly can – more than the UK Government has done so far – to support the people fleeing that crisis in the biggest humanitarian crisis Europe has seen since the Second World War.
“So, obviously there are really urgent issues to address there and to try and do everything we can do to work with our international partners to achieve that.”
He added: “But I don’t think that everything else that the Scottish Government has promised to do between now and 2026 needs to be put on hold. We have a great deal of other work, whether that is the heat and building work, commitments on biodiversity or, indeed, whether it is the promise that we made to the people of Scotland to give them the choice about their own constitutional future.
“I don’t think we should shelve the rest of the Scottish Government’s programme, including this question.”
Pressed whether the Holyrood Referendum Bill would be introduced before the Easter recess which begins on April 2, he said: “I don’t think a date has been absolutely fixed at the moment. You have to go through some pre-introduction stages before you lay a Bill in Holyrood. I don’t think you will have long to wait.”
Earlier this week, after Mr Blackford suggested there may be a delay to the vote, Nicola Sturgeon said she still hopes to hold Indyref2 next year.
In an interview with LBC, when the First Minister was asked whether the current geopolitical situation had impacted her thinking on a referendum in 2023, she replied: “My plans and my thinking hasn’t changed.”
Ms Sturgeon added: “I support independence for a whole variety of reasons but one of the motivations for my support for independence is to see Scotland play a bigger role, albeit as a small country, in building a more peaceful world, to be a progressive, constructive international partner, to be a progressive country that welcomes refugees.”
We shouldn’t shelve our plans because of the war