INDEPENDENCE supporters “need No voters to come out” to the polls in indyref2, an expert has warned as the Tories confirm they would boycott a ballot run by Holyrood.
Douglas Ross’s party said it would not participate in any constitutional referendum run by Scottish ministers without agreement from Downing Street.
The Scottish Government aims to hold a second constitutional vote next year. Debate continues amongst Yes supporters and figureheads about the best indyref2 strategy in the face of refusal by Boris Johnson, who says he won’t give the Section 30 order needed to make the process legal.
Supporters of a “Plan B” say Scotland must now prepare an alternative strategy, with Joanna Cherry suggesting Scots ministers could bring forwards a “carefully crafted bill” on a referendum without No 10’s consent. She said the UK Supreme Court could clear the way for a “lawful referendum” if it “found the bill to be within competence” of the Scottish Parliament.
Earlier this week the Scottish Tories said “no” when asked if they would take part in a consultative, non-binding referendum in such circumstances, adding: “The SNP’s push to divide the country all over again as early as next year is reckless.”
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LibDem leader Willie Rennie said the matter is a distraction from pandemic recovery, while Scottish Labour constitution spokesperson Anas Sarwar told The National: “With people losing their lives and livelihoods, it is a gross insult that SNP politicians are wasting time and energy on this. Talk of this hypothetical situation is nothing but a distraction from what our focus should be – pulling our people together and rebuilding our country.”
Commenting, Dr Coree Brown Swan, deputy director of the Centre on Constitutional Change, told this newspaper: “To have a referendum that’s viewed as legitimate, you need the participation of the people who are going to vote against you. You need No voters to come out and vote.
“You can have 90% Yes, but it doesn’t have the same legitimacy as the 2014 referendum when you had such enormous turnout.
“You can see the impatience from some SNP voters and you can understand it.
“An advisory referendum may be advantageous as a symbol but if you don’t have that legitimacy is it a distraction from what you want to achieve?”
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