SCOTLAND will “undoubtedly” have a second referendum on independence, a Conservative MP has said.
Speaking at an event at the Edinburgh Fringe on Sunday, former minister Andrew Bowie also said he would be unable to say what policies were in the most recent Scottish Tory manifesto as the party had focused solely on opposing the SNP.
The Scottish Conservatives are currently going through a leadership contest to replace Douglas Ross, who has faced internal criticism for resigning in the middle of a General Election campaign, and focusing too much on the independence issue and not enough on other policy areas.
Bowie told the Fringe event that he was backing Russell Findlay to take over as Scottish Tory leader, and, on the issue of what his party should go next, he said: “Scotland, I do think, has been held back by the fact that for 10 years now, since the referendum in 2014, the constitutional question has dominated every aspect of political life.
“I admit it's been to the benefit of the Scottish Conservative Party, because we have fought very hard over the past 10 years about being the strongest Unionist party, the strongest alternative to those who are seeking to break apart the United Kingdom.
“Now that that question seems to be off the table, for the moment at least, that poses a challenge to us Scottish Conservatives in Scotland. What do we stand for other than being not the SNP?”
He argued that the Tories did have policy positions in Scotland, but those had not been communicated well.
“I couldn't even tell you what was in the last Scottish Conservative manifesto because the focus was solely on beating the SNP and ‘no to another independence referendum’,” Bowie said.
“We rammed that down everybody's throats and everybody knew across a lot of Scotland that we were the strongest alternative. But we have to come up with something different now.”
He went on: “Will there be another referendum on Scottish independence? Undoubtedly, in the future, there will be.
“Is that a legitimate thing for Scotland to have? Absolutely. Is it a legitimate belief for somebody to hold that Scotland should be independent? 100%. Do we need to focus on that right now? No.”
Scottish Labour MP Michael Shanks, a minister in the UK Government, also appeared at the Fringe event, a recording of Iain Dale’s All Talk podcast, as did SNP MP Kirsty Blackman and LibDem MP Christine Jardine.
Stand-in host Matthew Stadlen asked the four MPs a question put by a member of the small audience of around 30 people.
He asked: “Two generations of independence supporters here. Will my children live in an independent Scotland?”
Responding, Shanks also said he believed there would be a second referendum, but said he thought Unionism would win out.
“I think we will have another referendum at some point, but I think it will probably end up exactly the same result as the last time,” the Labour minister said.
In 2020, now-Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the SNP would have a mandate to hold a second independence referendum if it won a majority at Holyrood. However, speaking on Sunday, Shanks said that the Holyrood system has been designed to prevent majorities from happening.
In her response to the audience question, the LibDems' Jardine: “I'd like to see a federal UK, and that will take a shake up of the government in England, which actually the Labour Party have already talked about. I think the UK 10, 20 years from now, 20 years probably, will look very different from what it does now.
“Scotland won’t be independent, but will have more power.”
And Blackman responded: “I intend for my children to live in an independent Scotland. I expect for them to live in an independent Scotland. So, yes.”
