THE backers of an alternative route to independence have stepped up their calls for the SNP to have a Plan B in place in light of revelations the UK Government will not agree to a referendum.

Angus MacNeil and Chris McEleny said the leaked document revealing a UK Tory strategy to scupper independence by continually delaying a new vote underlined a need for their party to have some way of responding to make progress.

Boris Johnson’s government reiterated its view last week that the 2014 vote was a “once in a generation event”. Writing in The National, MacNeil claimed the Scottish Government had no plan in place for independence should Scotland have a No-Deal Brexit in just over two months.

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“Scotland should now be in a situation to free itself from this kamikaze cliff jump by the Tories, or more correctly the Scottish Government should be,” he said.

“However, the cold hard fact, which some of us may not want to admit to, is that we have no escape. The Scottish Government is unarmed to fight or even ameliorate the choices that Tories have

foisted on us. We have ended up here at the mercy of the Tories by our own hand. Unless we change our Plan-A-only policy, it doesn’t matter how much those who have the microphone boldly proclaim that Plan A has ‘momentum’ or that Boris Johnson’s position is ‘unsustainable’.”

He added: “It has been almost four-and-a-half years since the Brexit vote and face facts, the cupboard is bare.”

The MP added the Holyrood 2021 election should be an effective vote on independence. “Remember Plan A is actually a good idea but with only one flaw – the Boris veto.”

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He renewed calls for Plan B to be on the SNP’s conference agenda next month.

McEleny, who is bidding for selection as an SNP candidate for next year’s election, said: “These past months have shown that more and more people want decisions about the future of Scotland to be made by the Scottish Government, not the UK Government.

“Boris Johnson doesn’t want the people of Scotland to have a choice on their own future and this leaked memo proves that he will go to any length to block a referendum.”