4 July 2016

The Telegraph: Ruth Davidson: Next PM should not block Scottish independence referendum

Ruth Davidson has said that she would advise the next Prime Minister not to block a request by Nicola Sturgeon for a second independence referendum in the wake of the vote for Brexit.

The Scottish Tory leader said it was “incredibly premature” and “destabilising” for the First Minister to press for a rerun of the 2014 vote, but she had never thought that one should be denied because she is a “democrat”. [...]

It is hugely significant as it makes it even more difficult for the next Prime Minister to refuse a rerun. Sources close to the Scottish Tory leader argued that doing so would provoke a massive public backlash in Scotland that could further drive up support for separation. [...]

A series of opinion polls conducted since the Brexit result was announced show support for independence has just tipped over the 50 per cent mark.  Alex Salmond said there had been a “seismic movement in opinion.”

But Ms Davidson argued that Scots would be faced with an “utterly, utterly different” series of questions compared to 2014, including a choice between leaving their second biggest export market in the form of the EU or the UK, which is more than four times larger.

No comments:

Post a Comment