Nicola Sturgeon: ruling out new Scottish referendum would be undemocratic
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Version 0 of 1. The Scottish National party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has said it would not be democratic to rule out another referendum on Scottish independence in the next parliament. Sturgeon said she had no plans for another referendum “at this stage” and that something “substantive” would have to change that was bigger than just a poll showing a fresh shift towards pro-independence feeling. However, Sturgeon added that categorically ruling out another referendum was not possible because that was an issue for the Scottish people. “There is a democratic lock on this question of another referendum and independence,” she told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 on Sunday morning. “If there is to be another one, Scottish voters would have to vote for a proposition in a manifesto and give a party, presumably the SNP, a majority in the Scottish parliament to get that legislation through. I can’t impose that. “Democratically, I don’t believe it’s right for me or any other politician to say, regardless of the circumstances and regardless of public opinion, I rule it out.” The big issue is whether the SNP will promote another independence referendum in its manifesto for the 2016 Scottish parliament elections. The SNP leader refused to rule out another referendum over the next parliament during the Scottish leaders’ election debate last week, but she expanded on her reasoning in the interview with Marr. The SNP chief, speaking ahead of the launch of the party’s general election manifesto on Monday, was pressed on the issue as it looks increasingly likely that her party could have about 50 MPs in the House of Commons after 7 May, potentially holding the balance of power. She has offered to support a Labour government led by Ed Miliband to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street, while claiming the general election was not about independence. Observers have pointed out that the SNP may not have any leverage as Miliband could present a Queen’s speech andchallenge Sturgeon to vote it down – thereby empowering the Tories. Speaking on Friday, the Labour leader said: “The first budget of a Labour government is going to be written by a Labour government … It is not going to be written by Nicola Sturgeon or Alex Salmond or anybody else in the SNP. I could not have been clearer. “How other parties vote on a Labour’s Queen’s speech frankly is a matter for them … My message to Nicola Sturgeon is ‘thanks, but no thanks’. If you want a Labour government, my message is very simple: vote Labour.” However, Sturgeon insisted on Sunday that the SNP would be in a “very, very strong” position if Miliband ended up leading the largest party. She said it was possible “to change the direction of a government on individual issues without bringing that government down”. The Conservatives have campaigned heavily on the idea that Miliband could be left reliant on the SNP, saying the party still wanted to break up the union. The Tories have released an election poster showing Miliband as a puppet with Sturgeon pulling the strings. Cameron, also speaking on the Andrew Marr show, said the prospect of the SNP exerting influence on Miliband was “frightening”. |