A BID for the right to hold a referendum on Dumfries and Galloway’s future if Scotland votes to become independent has been blown out of the water.
A group of breakaway Tory councillors lodged a motion before a full council meeting yesterday, calling for the local authority to seek Westminster approval for a vote to allow residents to decide whether the region would remain part of the UK or leave with Scotland.
However, their attempt was thrown out in the wake of their defeat, after the motion was put forward by councillors Peter Diggle and Ian Carruthers, of the six-strong Dumfries and Galloway Independents, who have split from the local Tory group.
Other councillors who backed the motion to give residents a vote for the region to either remain part of the UK or to leave if a second independence poll gets the go-ahead, were Independent group leader Jane Maitland, secretary George Prentice and independent member Colin Wyper.
Last week in The National, Dumfries and Galloway MP Richard Arkless and SNP group members accused the group behind the motion of orchestrating a “nonsensical stunt” and wasting council time when there were major issues to deal with such as engineering job losses, a consultation on the future of eight police stations and changes to council ward boundaries.
SNP group secretary Stephen Thompson said Robert Burns would be turning in his grave at the thought of Dumfries and Galloway becoming part of England, and SNP group leader Andy Ferguson dubbed those behind it the “new arch-separatists”, describing it as a “political ploy by the guys who are the right wing of the Tory party”.
Speaking after the motion was ditched, Arkless said: “I am pleased this stunt is at end – perhaps the protagonists can get back on with their day job now. Dumfries and Galloway will always be first in Scotland.”
Ferguson added: “I am pleased that common sense has prevailed and the council can get on with the serious business of looking after the people of Dumfries and Galloway without this added distraction. Maybe Cllr Diggle, if he put his efforts into looking after his constituents, his time might be better served.”
A counter amendment to the motion read that the council “recognises that Dumfries and Galloway is an important part of the ancient nation of Scotland, and agrees that any future decision on constitution should be made on a national basis”.
Diggle said he was “disappointed” at losing the vote but said he had had “a huge amount of support from the public” for his motion.
He added: “I was disappointed we lost.
“I wasn’t expecting to get the SNP vote but I was hoping to get the pro-union councillors to support the motion.
“I think we will sit down and take stock, and decide how we are going to play things, and in which direction we are going to go. We have had a huge amount of support for this motion from members of the public and constituents, and since the meeting my phone has never stopped ringing, with people phoning up to say: ‘Well done for taking this forward.’
“They are disappointed that we lost but you win some, lose some and we’ll see where we go from here.
“It seems odd to me that as Dumfries and Galloway voted 65.7 per cent to stay in the United Kingdom in 2014, the council has denied its residents the democratic right to have a regional referendum.
“We now face the prospect of being taken out of the United Kingdom against our will should another Scottish independence referendum take place. By adopting this motion, we would have been keeping our options open.”
l SENIOR figures in the SNP are preparing the independence blueprint that Nicola Sturgeon hopes will take the Yes camp to victory in a second referendum, it was reported yesterday.
Party insiders told a London-based newspaper that frontbenchers in both Holyrood and Westminster are drawing up a prospectus that will be used by the party to persuade Scots to back independence if a second referendum is called.
The First Minister has set up a party growth commission under Andrew Wilson, a lobbyist and former SNP MSP, with the task of examining key economic questions facing an independent Scotland.
That commission will come up with recommendations on currency, one of the weakest areas of the Yes campaign in the 2014 independence referendum, and on ways in which a newly independent Scotland could make its economy grow.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here