ALEX Salmond yesterday warned David Cameron that any attempt to resist a second independence referendum if the UK votes to leave the EU against Scotland’s will would be like King Canute trying to hold back the tide.
The former First Minister said the pressure for a new poll on Scotland’s self-determination would be “irresistible”. Speaking on his weekly radio slot on LBC, Salmond said: “If we got a situation where the majority of folk in Scotland wanted to stay in but the majority in England wanted to come out, because England is so much bigger that pulls Scotland out.
“The First Minister has said that would make another independence referendum very likely indeed. The pressure would be irresistible.
“Strangely enough, and this is the first time I have agreed with him in about 20 years, Tony Blair said something similar.
“You cannot just leave the European Union just like that. It took Greenland seven years and it was not as complicated back then.
“It takes years and years, and therefore in that period if the pressure for another referendum becomes irresistible it will be like King Canute trying to hold back the tide at
Westminster, or perhaps trying to demonstrate that the tide cannot be held back.”
Salmond spoke as Angus Robertson, SNP leader at Westminster, called on Cameron not to resort to Project Fear when campaigning to keep Britain in the EU as he highlighted a joint letter by the devolved governments’ First Ministers urging him not to hold the referendum in June out of respect to the voters in the devolved parts of the UK.
Roberston was responding to Cameron’s statement on his draft EU deal, published on Tuesday, when he referred to the plea made by the government leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where parliamentary and assembly elections are taking place in May.
“Will the Prime Minister first off commit to a positive campaign for staying in the European Union and not resort to the negative tactics of Project Fear?” Roberston asked as he called on Cameron to make a positive case for staying in the EU.
“What is at stake is much, much bigger than his recent discussions. It is about whether we are in the EU or not and that is what the debate across the UK will be in the run-up to the referendum.
“The result of the referendum really matters to the electorates of the governments of Scotland of Wales and Northern Ireland as well as London where there are elections in May ... I think (they) deserve a little bit more respect.”
Robertson also asked the PM to give him an assurance Scotland would not be pulled out of the EU if Scots vote to remain. But ignoring the question, Cameron insisted voters would not confuse the issues.
In the leaders’ joint letter, sent yesterday morning, the three FMs said a June plebiscite risks confusing issues at a moment when clarity is required, and called on Cameron to defer the EU referendum at least until later in the year.
But the PM appeared to reject the demand, committing instead to a gap of at least six weeks after the May 5 elections before holding the referendum — leaving open the possibility of a vote on June 23 or 30.
The letter, also signed by Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, said: “We believe that holding a referendum as early as June will mean that a significant part of the referendum campaign will necessarily run in parallel with those elections and risks confusing issues at a moment when clarity is required.”
Responding to the PM’s statement, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told him: “Your negotiation is a Tory Party drama that is being played out in front of us, as we see at the moment.”
Over the past several months, Cameron has been embroiled in negotiations over aspects of the UK’s membership of the EU ahead of a referendum promised in his election manifesto last May in a bid to convince Eurosceptics in Britain to remain in the Union.
The draft deal includes an “emergency brake” to restrict in-work benefits for EU migrants. But it would have to be agreed by other EU nations and it would be “graduated”, with more money from tax credits paid to migrants the longer they remain in the UK. The deal is to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit at the end of this month.
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