ANGUS Robertson has cast doubt on Nicola Sturgeon’s plan for a second independence referendum next year, conceding a vote may not happen then.
The SNP Constitution Secretary said Indyref2 would happen “sooner or later” but not necessarily on the First Minister’s preferred date of 19 October 2023.
“A referendum will come at some stage,” he said.
Mr Robertson made the comments in an interview with the France24 TV channel on the eve of the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen.
Ms Sturgeon said in June that she wanted to hold Indyref2 next year if the UK Supreme Court said Holyrood could do so under its existing powers - without Westminster’s consent.
If that was not possible, she said she would fight the next general election as a “de facto referendum” on the single question of independence.
Mr Robertson’s comments suggest party thinking has moved beyond the UK Supreme Court, which is due to hear arguments on the issue next week, onto longer-term options.
He said: “A referendum will come - at some stage. We’re planning for October next year.”
Asked if he was confident about that, Mr Robertson did not say yes.
Instead he said: “It is going to come. Among the youngest voters in Scotland, so between 16-25, 25-35, support for independence is running at between 60 and 70 per cent. So it’s going to come sooner or later.
“Arguably the UK Government should agree to a referendum as soon as possible because the longer they wait the worse it’s going to be for them.”
Most legal experts believe the Supreme Court will rule Holyrood cannot stage Indyref2 under its current powers as the issue relates to the reserved matter of the Union.
There are also doubts among opposition parties and senior nationalists about the practicality of a single-issue general election campaign when voters may well be more concerned about the cost of living crisis, energy bills and mortgage payments.
Even if the SNP and Greens won a majority of the vote in Scotland, the UK Government could refuse to recognise the result as a mandate for independence.
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