The SNP have warned that denying Scotland another independence referendum will backfire on the UK Government as it would shift the debate to one about democracy.
Former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson made the comment while speaking in an interview on the BBC’s Newsnight programme and said the denying democratic wishes of Scotland would create a "bigger problem" for Boris Johnson and will reframe the debate.
The SNP has claimed Westminster will have no choice but to agree to a second vote if a pro-independence majority is elected in next week’s Holyrood poll.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said he will block an independence referendum regardless of the parliamentary arithmetic.
Mr Robertson, the SNP candidate in Edinburgh Central, said: “If the Government in London decides that it is going to ignore the democratic wishes of the people in Scotland, that’s extremely serious and poses, I think, a bigger problem for Boris Johnson and the Tories.
“What at the present time is an independence question moves into becoming a democracy question, and that’s something London won’t be able to control at all.
“So if the people vote for a Parliament that wishes there to be an independence referendum, London is really going to have to accede to that because if they don’t, the problem for them is going to get a lot, lot worse.”
Ex-SNP leader at Westminster Angus Robertson tells #Newsnight if the PM refuses to agree to a referendum in the event of a nationalist majority at Holyrood, he'd turn a debate about independence into one on democracy, adding "and that's something London won't be able to control" pic.twitter.com/w9VKeKKXq5
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) April 29, 2021
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross pushed back on the claim from Mr Robertson – whom he unseated in Moray at the 2017 general election.
Speaking on Friday, Mr Ross said: “There is an issue at stake in this election and that’s the future of Scotland for the next five years.
“I’ve been very clear that there is a straight choice – the SNP taking us back to the division of the past and the arguments of separation, taking our eye off the ball over all the crucial issues here in Scotland, or voting for Scottish Conservatives who will stop an SNP majority, stop an independence referendum and get our Parliament and our politics and our country laser- focused on recovery.
“The more I speak to people, as we can start to do a bit more face-to-face campaigning, that is clearly the priorities I’m hearing from people right across Scotland – not more division, not more calls for separation, simply focused 100% on recovery.”
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