A former SNP Justice Secretary has claimed a Holyrood-run independence referendum could be little more than a “glorified opinion poll”.
Kenny MacAskill also warned such a plan would be boycotted by pro-UK parties and lack validity.
The First Minister has said she wants any referendum to take place before the end of 2023, covid permitting.
Her preferred route is a joint agreement with the UK Government, but Boris Johnson ’s refusal means the SNP/Green majority in parliament could try to organise a new vote without Westminster.
Observers believe a Holyrood referendum not anchored by a section 30 deal with the UK Government would inevitably end up in the courts.
MacAskill, the East Lothian MP who quit the SNP last year to join Alba, has criticised the SNP’s strategy.
He believes Holyrood has the power to organise a consultative referendum, but questions the value in going down this route.
He told the Record: “What is within the powers of the Scottish Parliament is to hold a referendum which could ask a question ‘should Scotland be an independent nation, yes or no?’. Would it be binding? No, it wouldn’t.”
He said: “You could either have the gold-plated section 30 [referendum], which is what we had in 2014, agreed with Westminster, or you could seek to have what is to all intents and purposes...a glorified opinion poll.”
He added: “It’s a bit more intense than a SurveyMonkey poll, but it won’t be any more binding than a SurveyMonkey poll.”
MacAskill also said taking a “temperature gauge” of the Scottish population would be harder now than a couple of years ago.
He said of the SNP/Green Government: “They have allowed the opposition parties to say they will boycott it, and therefore holding it you would have to question whether it has the validity.”
The Record asked the Scottish Tories two years ago whether they would take part in a consultative referendum organised by Holyrood.
A spokesman said at the time: “No.”
McAskill’s immediate alternative is for the creation of a special convention, which he believes would unite the pro-independence forces behind a common strategy.
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said:
“It’s clear that even the most committed nationalists are deeply sceptical of the First Minister’s claims of an imminent referendum.
“The people of Scotland are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis - the priory must be on protecting family finances and re-building our NHS, not endless division.“
The SNP declined to comment.
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