Sturgeon slaps down SNP deputy over wildcat Indyref2

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon 'dismisses idea of wildcat independence referendum' at FMQs 

“I’ve set out my position and Keith’s position is the same on that,” she said.

It followed the emergence of a video of Mr Brown, who is also the SNP’s campaign manager, speaking to independence supporters in Aberdeen last month.

He said the UK’s government’s refusal to grant Holyrood the power to hold a new vote should not be an obstacle to having one.

“If we want to have a referendum, then we decide we’re going to have a referendum.”

The Tories said the comments were “shocking” and showed Ms Sturgeon and her team were “plotting an illegal referendum”.

Speaking in Glasgow today, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that "of course" the UK government would reject any request for a second independence referendum.

READ MORE: Alison Rowat: The state of Scottish Labour? We need to talk about Richard 

Mr Brown also revealed the First Minister feared Brexit could become “normalised” if the Yes movement “didn’t go relatively soon” for independence.

Last week Mr Brown announced the SNP should commit itself to a new Scottish currency in the event of independence.

His Indyref2 comments were made on February 24 and posted on social media by the pro-independence Broadcasting Scotland website.

The 2014 referendum was based on a temporary devolution of powers using a Section 30 order agreed by both the Scottish and UK Governments.

Ever since, Ms Sturgeon has held up the legally watertight process as the “gold standard”, and said any second referendum should be based it on too.

An official referendum would also risk legal challenges and a Unionist boycott.

In March 2017, Holyrood voted 69-59 to request another Section 30 order to hold a referendum because of Brexit, but Theresa May refused to grant it.

After the SNP lost a third of its MPs and half a million votes in the 2017 election, Ms Sturgeon “reset” her plan and promised a new “precise timescale” by last autumn.

However, it has been repeatedly delayed by uncertainty over Brexit.

With time running out to hold a referendum within the current Scottish Parliament, many in the Yes movement are now pushing for a Catalan-style unofficial vote instead.

READ MORE: MP tells SNP not to 'dither' over Indyref2

At the Aberdeen Independence Movement event, Mr Brown was told by an audience member there was “a lot of exasperation” over the lack of a date for Indyref2.

Keith Brown

“I don’t think people’s patience will last,” she told him.

Mr Brown sympathised, but said: “If you go at the wrong time and get the wrong answer, the consequences of that are horrendous.”

He said that if Brexit was extended there would be more disinvestment, job losses and a general undermining of the economy.

He said: “The other thing that’s worth bearing in mind is, in [Holyrood election year] 2021, if Brexit was to happen, and we didn’t go relatively soon, then the idea that Brexit might become normalised is quite a worry. People get used to it, and that’s the new normal.

“So, that, I think, I know, is also in Nicola’s mind.”

He went on: “One of the things that’s very important is what happens on a Section 30 order.

“I don’t think that certainly the SNP, and I don’t think the Yes movement, should be willing to anticipate a refusal of a Section 30 order as a reason not to call a referendum.

“If we want to have a referendum, then we decide we’re going to have a referendum.

“But there is a worry - I know Nicola’s concerned with the fact - that the arguments over a Section 30 can start to dissipate the support for independence. So that’s a worry as well.

“So, there’s all these kind of judgements, but, and the other point of course to make is that we have a mandate.”

READ MORE: Alex Salmond takes swipe at SNP leadership over Indyref2

He also said the mandate, based on a material change of circumstances since the 2014 vote, could turn on “the power grab to the Scottish parliament” as well as Brexit.

“So I’ve think we’ve got every democratic justification for doing that. And I would say to the UK Government, if they’re thinking about trying to refuse it. I think the biggest thing to happen to shift people is now the way Scotland’s being treated.”

Speaking to the media after First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon said: “My view is clear and has always been clear. The legal basis of any future independence referendum should be the same as the referendum in 2014, which is the transfer of power under a Section 30 order.

“The only reason we’re talking about this of course is the anti-democratic stance of the Conservatives who I think are running so scared of the will of the Scottish people on independence that they refuse to acknowledge the democratic mandate that the Scottish Government has, not just at one election but at two elections, and endorsed in the Scottish Parliament as well.

“That’s the outrage and that’s the position that I don’t can or will stand.”

“I’ve set out my position and Keith’s position is the same on that.”

Read My Brown’s quote and asked why he had said something different, she said: “I think that’s a mischaracterisation of what he said. What he said was - the anti-democratic stance of the Tories should not stop the SNP or the Scottish Government seeking a Section 30 order and planning on the basis that we would win that case and that argument.

“That’s what Keith meant. That is clearly my position. The legal basis in future should be the same as the legal basis in the past.”

Asked if she was open to the possibility of a referendum on a different basis, she said: “No, I am not to that possibility. I want and consider that the basis of the referendum should be the same as the last time. Of course the UK government is the one that’s taken a different position on that right now in a stance that in my view is completely counter to democracy.”

Mr Hunt said: "We think the Scottish Government should be focusing on the concerns of Scottish voters, which is not to have another very divisive independence referendum but to focus on the education system, which used to be the envy of the world. Standards are now falling.

"To focus on long waits in the NHS where we haven’t seen the 10-year plan that has now happened in England that has the potential to turn around those long waiting times.  

"That is what Scottish voters want the Scottish Government to focus on and I’m sure that’s what Theresa May will tell Nicola Sturgeon if she makes that request.’

Acting Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said the SNP was in "complete disarray" over Indyref2.

He said: "The SNP has been found out. Behind closed doors, Nicola Sturgeon and Keith Brown are telling party activists one thing, while telling the public quite another.

“In public, they tell us they’re focussed on the day job. In private, they’re secretly plotting for an illegal referendum.

“Nicola Sturgeon’s slap-down of her deputy today is a humiliation for Mr Brown and shows the SNP is in complete disarray.

“But it doesn’t hide the fact that their obsession with a second referendum will always come first – and everything else a distant second.”

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon admits Indyref2 may be after 2021

In a statement, Mr Brown said: “My position is clear – the deeply undemocratic stance of the UK Government in denying the mandate for indyref and refusing a Section 30 order should not prevent the Scottish Government seeking one and planning on the basis of winning that case.”

Scotland in Union chief executive Pamela Nash said: “These are highly irresponsible comments from Keith Brown, and Nicola Sturgeon must urgently distance herself from her deputy.

“This is yet more evidence that the SNP is determined to ignore the views of Scotland in its relentless pursuit of independence.

“Both the Scottish and UK governments should respect the will of Scots, who are showing in poll after poll that they do not want another divisive referendum.

“It’s time for the SNP to listen to the people of Scotland.”