IAN Blackford has stressed that Boris Johnson cannot be a “democracy denier” and must allow a Scottish independence referendum if the SNP secures a majority at next year’s Holyrood election.
The SNP leader at Westminster was speaking the day after the Prime Minister visited Scotland for the first time since last year’s general election – and denied he was exploiting the Covid-19 crisis to try and shore up support for the union.
Support for Scottish independence has surged in recent months and hours before Mr Johnson arrived in Orkney, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that his presence shows Scotland has “its future decided by politicians we didn’t vote for, taking us down a path we haven’t chosen”.
After the general election in December, in which the SNP won 48 seats, the Prime Minister rejected a request from Ms Sturgeon to grant the powers needed to hold another independence vote and he has repeatedly said since that he will not allow one.
READ MORE: New Independence party may not back Sturgeon on second referendum route
But pressure has ramped up in recent months and two recent Panelbase polls have put support for independence, when undecided voters are removed, at 54 per cent, while also predicting the SNP will win a majority in next May’s Holyrood election.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Blackford said: “I’d simply say to Boris Johnson that he has to recognise the will of the people of Scotland and the expression of support that they’re giving to independence.
“What we will see next year in the elections is a very strong support for the SNP and for independence.
“Boris Johnson has to recognise that vote, he has to recognise democracy. He cannot be a democracy denier.
“We will win this argument, we will have that referendum in Scotland.
READ MORE: 'I knew you were going to ask that!': Boris Johnson denies hiding from Scots voters
“Why is it right that we should be held in a union against the wishes of the people of Scotland?”
Mr Blackford declined to comment on whether the party will seek legal action if a referendum is denied again.
Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes is due to meet Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay on Friday and is expected to lobby for greater fiscal powers for Scotland.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon 'both need to grow up' as Prime Minister visits Scotland
Mr Blackford said: “What devolution has exposed is the limitations that we have.
“We don’t have the borrowing powers to be able to take our decisions to make sure we’re investing, not just in health, but in economic recovery as well.”
He welcomed £1.9 billion which will be sent to Scotland from the UK Government, as announced by Mr Barclay ahead of his visit to Edinburgh.
But Mr Blackford said “it would be normal to expect” the Scottish Government to have the necessary powers to be able to react to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Westminster Government has repeatedly rejected calls from Scottish ministers, along with other devolved administrations, for more flexibility in borrowing and other fiscal powers.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel