ALISTER Jack has ruled out Westminster under the Conservatives allowing Holyrood to have the power to hold referendums, saying this would “end up in a series of neverendums” on independence, that would damage Scotland.
In a fractious Scottish Questions in the Commons, the Scottish Secretary was bombarded with questions on indyref2 from the SNP benches.
When he took five questions together on the issue of the Scottish Government’s publication, Scotland’s Right to Choose, Mr Jack quipped to Tory laughter: “There’s no independence of thought in the questions.”
First up, Chris Law, the MP for Dundee West, mocked the Secretary of State, saying he had told Scottish voters repeatedly in the election campaign about how a vote for the Tories would be a vote to stop another independence referendum and noted how that “went well,” given the governing party had lost half their Scottish seats and had “barely a rump of MPs”.
READ MORE: Alister Jack confirms he has received Nicola Sturgeon’s request for a second independence referendum
Stressing how the SNP had won 80 per cent of Scottish seats in the December election, Mr Law insisted, to hear-hears from his colleagues, that Scottish voters had, by doing so, expressed their “democratic will to choose their own future”.
Mr Jack emphasised how 45 per cent of Scots voted for the SNP in the election and the same proportion had voted for independence in 2014. To more barracking from the SNP benches, he declared: “The numbers simply have not changed.
“Back in 2014, the independence referendum came on the back of something called the Edinburgh Agreement, which was signed by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, the then deputy leader, and in the agreement it said both parties would respect the outcome of the referendum and that hasn’t happened.”
The SNP’s Amy Callaghan, the new MP for East Dunbartonshire, accused the Government of a “blinding contradiction” ie it claimed to have a mandate to implement Brexit on the back of a 43 per cent share of the vote but that the Scottish Government did not have one to hold a second referendum on the back of a 45 per cent share.
Mr Jack replied: “It was a referendum three years ago. We are speaking for the majority of Scots…We are absolutely respecting that decision whereas the SNP are not respecting it and want to tear up the UK.”
Nationalist MP Neil Gray, who represents Airdrie and Shotts, claimed Mr Jack’s performance had demonstrated how untenable the Government’s position was on indyref2, repeating the 43 per cent/45 per cent argument.
To encouragement from colleagues, he asked: “What is his democratic case for denying the people of Scotland their democratic right to choose?”
Mr Jack, who noted how Ms Sturgeon’s letter to Boris Johnson of December 19 would be replied to “in due course,” told MPs the FM had asked for the right to set referendums in the future.
“We are very clear about this,” he insisted, “constitutional matters are reserved. It would be completely wrong for us to hand those powers over to the Scottish Parliament because we would end up in a series of neverendums; bad for the Scottish, bad for Scottish jobs, reducing tax income and, therefore, damaging already failing public services.”
One Whitehall source later told The Herald: “It would be completely irresponsible to hand over the power on referendums as it would paralyse Scotland and Scotland’s economy.”
In the chamber, Kirsty Blackman, the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, who the party said had taken on the prime constitutional role “in preparation for an independence referendum,” claimed the Government had ignored Scottish people’s voices and votes since 2016, “careering on with both Brexit and austerity”.
She asked Mr Jack what electoral event would convince him that Scotland’s people should have the right to choose their own future.
READ MORE: Relationship between Westminster and Holyrood ‘at low ebb’
The Scottish Secretary picked up on the austerity issue, saying: “The Scottish Government’s own independence figures show there would be a £12.6bn hole in the Scottish finances and that would mean real austerity.
“Regarding when the time would be right, both Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond said it was a once-in-a-generation, a once-in-a-lifetime decision. I don’t feel a generation or lifetime have passed.”
David Mundell, Mr Jack’s predecessor at the Scotland Office, said the Scottish Government’s Right To Choose document was “just another expensive and time-wasting stunt by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP”.
He went on: “The people of Scotland chose in 2014 decisively to remain in the UK and it’s time Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP accepted that and moved on.”
During his tenure at Dover House, the Dumfriesshire MP took Scottish Questions 56 times.
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