Nicola Sturgeon does not really want to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence, the former leader of the Better Together campaign has claimed.
Alistair Darling, a former Labour chancellor who led the successful pro-Union campaign in 2014, questioned the sincerity of the First Minister and her stated aim of holding an IndyRef2 by the end of next year.
Sturgeon unveiled the first in a series of Scottish Government papers last week which are aimed at convincing Scots of the benefits of independence.
But questions remain over how a legally binding referendum can take place without the approval of the UK Government.
The First Minister suggested she could hold a vote regardless of whether Boris Johnson granted a Section 30 order or not.
In an interview with LBC radio, Darling was asked what Sturgeon had meant by her comments at Bute House.
He said: "No. And I don't think she has. I don't think she wants her referendum any more than I do.
"Because I think if you had it today, she'd lose.
"It's interesting she recognised the border problem and said it was a challenge.
"Well, we've seen in Northern Ireland, what happens when you stick a border in the United Kingdom it is more than a challenge.
"It's a complete disaster.
"And equally, you know, I used to go on and on and on about the currency question in 2014 and we’ve not got an answer to that yet, what currency will we have?
"She's got to, you know, she's got to keep her own troops going."
Asked by host Andrew Marr if the SNP was leading a "permanent campaign", Darling added: "Yes.
"If you look at what's going on in Scotland at the moment, you know, that she's given up on trying to reduce the gap between rich and poor at schools, the transport policy is an absolute disaster, you know, the ferries to the to the islands of Scotland not being built years later, and so on.
"The health service… she keeps going about how much better we were in dealing with COVID. Yet we still have, we've got problems as much as the rest of the UK has so what better than from her point of view than start talking about, you know, nirvana."
The First Minister is due to give further details on her IndyRef2 plan to MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday.
SNP MP Stewart Hosie said: "Alistair Darling should apologise to the people of Scotland for the multiple disasters his No campaign has delivered.
"He should answer for a litany of broken promises, with Scotland now suffering the catastrophic consequences of the Brexit the No campaign said would never happen, the Prime Minister they said would never be in Downing Street and a cost of living crisis which the broken Westminster system is fuelling."
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