Nicola Sturgeon has publicly corrected her SNP deputy after he backed Scotland having a wildcat independence referendum if the UK Government keeps refusing to grant a legal one.
The First Minister said Keith Brown had “meant” to say something different, and ruled out ever resorting to an illegal referendum, something that will disappoint Yes supporters hoping for an unofficial Catalan-style vote.
“I’ve set out my position and Keith’s position is the same on that,” she said after a video surfaced of Mr Brown, who is also the SNP’s campaign manager, speaking to independence activists in Aberdeen last month.
He told them 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.”
Mr Brown also revealed the First Minister feared Brexit could be “normalised” if the Yes movement “didn’t go relatively soon”.
He said: “That, I know, is in Nicola’s mind.”
The Tories said the comments were “shocking” and showed Ms Sturgeon and her team were “plotting an illegal referendum”.
The row coincided with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirming the UK Government had not changed its mind about denying a vote.
He told an audience in Glasgow that “of course” Theresa May would reject any request for a second independence referendum.
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 limited transfer of powers using a Section 30 order agreed by 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 unofficial referendum would also risk legal challenges and a Unionist boycott. In March 2017, Holyrood voted 69-59 to request another Section 30 order because of Brexit, but Mrs 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.
But speaking to the media at Holyrood, 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 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 open 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 the Scottish Government should focus on voter concerns such as health and education, not 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 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.”
SNP MSP Bruce Crawford said: “Jeremy Hunt’s comments were profoundly anti-democratic, and show the Tories now openly treating Scottish democracy with contempt – particularly given every area of Scotland voted to Remain.
“With just 22 days before Brexit, Jeremy Hunt should focus on his government’s complete mishandling of Brexit.”
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: “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.”
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