TORY leadership hopefuls Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt have both ruled out a second independence referendum for another decade.
The ten-year wait is far sooner than the prospect of a vote in 2055 raised by Boris Johnson in 2021, but not soon enough for the Scottish Government who want the poll in October 2023.
Both men were appearing on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show as they pitched for votes in the race to replace the Prime Minister.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which he would agree to another referendum on Scottish independence, Mr Hunt replied: "Not in the next 10 years."
Asked the same question, Mr Javid said: "The last one was for a generation, the generation hasn't changed, so no. Not forever, but not least for a decade."
Meanwhile, their rival, Tom Tugenhandt, who was appearing on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, refused to set a date, describing it as a “cheap political ploy”.
Asked if there were any circumstances in which he as Prime Minister would be prepared to agree to a request for a section 30 order from the Scottish Government, the senior backbencher said: “I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about the future. What I'm interested in is delivering now.”
He added: “What I really need to address is what people care about now. There's more month at the end of the pay packet than there should be.
“We're seeing an economic difficulty that we're all struggling with, whether you're in Glasgow or in Canterbury. We're all feeling the fact that it's now two pounds a litre for petrol. I don't know about you, but I notice it.
“We're all feeling the fact that gas prices are rising and you're going to feel it more sadly in Scotland than in communities like Kent because it gets colder earlier. The reality is these are the issues we need to be dealing with.”
There are currently nine hopefuls in the contest, with others expected to launch their campaigns in the coming days.
Earlier this week, shortly before he agreed to stand down as leader of the Conservative Party, Boris Johnson told Nicola Sturgeon that he “cannot agree that now is the time” for another vote on the constitution.
The First Minister took to Twitter after receiving the letter to say that there would be a vote.
She said: "Just received this from Johnson (one of his last acts as PM). To be clear, Scotland will have the opportunity to choose independence - I hope in a referendum on 19 October 2023 but, if not, through a General Election. Scottish democracy will not be a prisoner of this or any PM."
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