LEADING independence campaigners have backed calls for a “new Yes Scotland organisation” to take “some of the strain and daily focus away from the Scottish Government”.

The initial plea for a new body to make the case for leaving the UK, came from the SNP’s former strategic communications chief, Kevin Pringle, who yesterday called on the “entire Yes movement to make the case for independence unassailable”.

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry told The National it would “make sense” to have a separate “lead campaign organisation, to give a public focus to the vision, policy development and strategic campaigning which is being developed across the Yes movement”.

There was support too for the idea outside the SNP, with Green co-convenor Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Socialist Party’s Colin Fox, and former Yes Scotland boss Dennis Canavan all offering their backing.

It came after Boris Johnson wrote to Nicola Sturgeon this week, rejecting her demand to devolve the powers to hold a legally watertight independence referendum.

The First Minister has promised to update Holyrood and voters on her next steps before the end of the month.

Initially she said she wanted to have indyref2 in the second half of this year, and earlier this week, her Constitutional Relations secretary Michael Russell insisted this was still the target, but over the weekend a number of SNP voices have suggested there is no likely chance of a referendum before next year’s Holyrood election.

Writing in Saturday’s The National, Angus Robertson told activists to switch focus to win a majority in the Scottish Parliament.

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He said: “Hard as it is to endure given the repeated electoral mandates for an independence referendum, the reality is that the issue of indyref2 will be decided in the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

“With a majority of pro-independence MSPs, it will be impossible to oppose Scottish democracy.”

The National: The Scottish Socialist Party’s Colin Fox is backing the proposals The Scottish Socialist Party’s Colin Fox is backing the proposals

In the Sunday Times, Pringle said that “whatever anyone says now, the right to choose Scotland’s future is going to be at the forefront of next year’s Holyrood election and it will be a key determinant of how people vote”.

He added: “In reality, the best chance of breaking the Johnson veto lies with winning more converts, driving independence up in the polls, so it’s consistently above 50%, and the SNP and Greens achieving a majority in next year’s election on a common referendum platform.

“The haul may be short but it could be longer. Either way, it makes sense to establish a new Yes Scotland organisation to take some of the strain and daily focus away from the Scottish Government.

“This impasse isn’t a test of Sturgeon’s leadership; she has demonstrated her commitment to the cause and delivered electoral success in spades. It’s a test of the ability of the entire ‘Yes’ movement to make the case for independence unassailable.”

Reacting to the call, Cherry said: “Whilst we look forward to the First Minister’s statement on next steps after Johnson’s flat no to the request for negotiations about a section 30 order, it’s important that we don’t get too bogged down in process.

“So, I agree with Kevin that it would make sense to establish a new Yes Scotland, as a lead campaign organisation, to give a public focus to the vision, policy development and strategic campaigning which is being developed across the Yes movement.

“I am also wholeheartedly in favour of a new constitutional convention to reach out beyond the Yes movement and party divides to encompass civic Scotland in order to build on the increasing support for self determination in wider society.”

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Harvie agreed. He said: “If we are to win we need to convince people who weren’t convinced in 2014. The Scottish Greens will continue to play a positive role in the independence movement, which needs cross party cooperation but which has always been about far more than just the SNP. We will continue to bring our distinct voice to show that the campaign for Scotland’s independence is broad and inclusive.”

Fox, who like the Green MSP was on the board of Yes Scotland, agreed with Pringle on the need to win over more converts: “I think most of us as socialists in Scotland and in Britain are coming to terms with the idea that there won’t be a Labour government in the 2020s “If we’re going to avoid 10 years of the Tories in Scotland, the only way we can achieve that is through independence,” he added.