SCOTTISH Government minister Lorna Slater has refused to say if she believes there will be an independence referendum by the end of next year.
The Scottish Greens co-leader repeatedly said the government would “start working towards that”, but conspicuously stopped short of saying it would actually happen.
A recent poll found only a third of Scots want Indyref2 on Nicola Sturgeon’s preferred timetable, which is before the end of 2023, provided the Covid crisis has passed.
Boris Johnson has refused to give Holyrood the power to hold a vote on ending the UK.
The First Minister has said that if the block continues, she will pass a Referendum Bill regardless, but that would probably be struck down by the Supreme Court as incompetent.
The joint government Bute House deal struck between the SNP and Greens six months ago includes a commitment to securing Indyref2 “after the Covid crisis”.
It states: “If the Covid crisis has passed, our intention is for the referendum to be within the first half of the five-year parliamentary session.”
Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms Slater was asked: “Do you still think there will be an independence referendum by the end of next year?”
She replied: “We are working towards having an independence referendum next year.”
Pressed on the lack of public support for it, she said: “It was part of our, you know, SNP manifesto promise. It is part of the Bute House agreement to do that, and we’re going to start working towards that.
“It’s time to have a conversation about what kind of country we want to be.
“I think that’s an independent country, a proud member of the EU, that has the powers to do things like upgrade our own electricity grid, to install our own offshore cables, there’s so much that we can’t do. Our hands are tied by Westminster and we can do much more as an independent country. We could take in more refugees [from Ukraine].”
The Lothians MSP also said her party had a philosophical objection to Nato membership because of the defence allliance’s first strike policy on the use of nuclear weapons.
Ms Slater’s fellow minister and Green co-leader, Patrick Harvie, last week told the Herald a Referendum Bill was coming soon, but did not put a date on it.
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