Indyref2 Sturgeon to push ahead by publishing Bill ‘within weeks’
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon is preparing to publish a referendum Bill and lay out her case for independence in a fresh push “within weeks” after last week’s election results.
It comes as a Panelbase survey for the Sunday Times found 24 per cent back a vote within the next 12 months, up from 19% last November – although 45% said a poll should not take place in the next few years.
A separate poll by Survation for Scotland in Union found 29% supported a referendum next year, while 60% said another vote should not be held.
Civil servants are now working on updating the case for independence.
The Herald revealed last month the legislation would not be tabled in Holyrood ahead of the May 5 poll, and sources told the Sunday Times the Bill will have to be brought forward soon if the timetable for a referendum by the end of next year is to be met.
An SNP spokesman said “support for the SNP was reinforced by our best ever local election result”.
A referendum Bill could be challenged in the Supreme Court. Boris Johnson has ruled out agreeing to a second vote.
NICOLA Sturgeon is expected to launch a fresh push for independence “within weeks” as a new poll suggests support for a second referendum within five years has risen to 55 per cent.
After the SNP’S 11th consecutive election win in a row on Thursday, the First Minister is preparing to publish a referendum Bill and a series of papers making the case for leaving the UK.
The Herald revealed last month the legislation would not be tabled in Holyrood in the weeks leading up to the May 5 poll, and now sources have told the Sunday Times the Bill will have to be brought forward soon if the timetable for a referendum by the end of next year is to be met.
Civil servants are currently working on updating the case for independence put to voters in 2014 to take account of Brexit, the time an independent Scotland would take to become a European Union state, and border arrangements with the UK.
There are also questions surrounding the currency an independent Scotland would adopt, defence policy, and how it would balance a multibillion-pound gap between its public spending and tax revenues.
A Panelbase survey of 1,009 voters for the Sunday Times, conducted over April 26-29, found that demand for a second referendum remained strong – though less than a quarter of those polled favoured one within 12 months.
It found 24% backed a vote within the next 12 months – up five points from 19% last November, with 31% backing one in the next two to five years (down 3%) – taking the total to 55% in that five-year timeline. However, 45% of those polled said that a fresh vote should not be held in the next few years (down 2%).
The poll put support for independence itself unchanged since November at 49% among those likely to vote and, when undecideds are excluded, with support for the Union at 51%.
Taking undecideds into account,
47% of those likely to vote back independence, 49% are opposed and 5% don’t know.
A separate poll by Survation for the anti-independence organisation Scotland in Union found 29% supported having a second independence referendum next year, while 60% said another vote should not be held.
It also found that among those who voted for the SNP in last year’s Holyrood election, 36% said there should not be a second referendum next year.
Asked what the Scottish Government’s top three priorities should be, only one in 10 said an independence referendum – while 61% said the NHS, 48% economy and jobs, 30% pandemic recovery, 26% education and 2% housing.
Survation polled more than 1,000 adults in Scotland in the run-up to last week’s council elections.
Using the question “should Scotland remain a part of the United Kingdom or leave the United Kingdom?”, 58% of respondents said they would vote to remain and 42% said they would vote to leave.
More than a quarter (28%) of Yes voters in 2014 said they would now vote to remain part of the UK. Asked why they had changed their mind, 72% stated the stability of the UK economy was a reason, while 70% selected Ms Sturgeon’s performance as First Minister and 66% said it was the importance of protecting public services.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “Whatever SNP politicians claim about the council election results, it is clear that the people of Scotland do not support their timetable for a divisive second referendum next year.”
An SNP spokesman said: “The people of Scotland delivered a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum in last year’s Holyrood election when they returned the SNP with the biggest share of the vote of any party in the history of devolution and elected a record number of pro-independence MSPS. Just this week, support for the SNP was reinforced by our best ever local election result.”
A referendum Bill could be challenged in the Supreme Court and Boris Johnson has ruled out agreeing to a second vote.
Interviewed on the BBC yesterday the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, Kirsten Oswald, would not say if she was confident that an independence vote would be held next year.
Support for the SNP was reinforced by our best ever local election result