The SNP has announced new plans to introduce a bill to allow Scotland to decide on independence. The party is pushing for the Scottish Parliament to hold its own referendum to “unlock Westminster’s denial of democracy”.
The plans will be announced today (Wednesday) and will seek to take over the House of Commons Order Paper on January 10 2023, presenting the SNP’s new Scotland Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill. Its aim is to amend Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, which details what Holyrood can and cannot legislate on, including “the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” and “the parliament of the United Kingdom”.
The plans come almost a month after the Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament could not hold a second independence referendum without Westminster approval. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn MP said: “We will use our Opposition Day to put forward the Scotland Act 1998 (Amendment) Bill and seek to take control of Parliament’s order paper to unlock Westminster’s denial of democracy.
“The mechanism, which will seek to amend the Scotland Act 1998, will allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a referendum and reject any attempts by Westminster to impose a roadblock on Scotland’s democratic journey to independence. The people of Scotland have already voted for a referendum and now is the time for one — that is a democratic reality that politicians at Westminster must wake up to.”
Mr Flynn’s comments came as a new poll suggested Scottish voters backed independence over remaining in the UK but signalled warnings for the de facto referendum method. The YouGov poll, reported by The Times, of 1,090 voters, found 47 per cent would favour independence, while 42 per cent would support staying in the union.
Support for independence has increased by 4 per cent since a previous survey in October, while the No vote fell by three points. Mr Flynn said: “Four polls in a row now show majority support for independence, but with both the Tories and Labour joined at the hip in blocking democracy, it cannot be business as usual at Westminster.”
Scottish Government ministers were accused this week of “vanity” independence spending rather than prioritising the cost-of-living crisis in the forthcoming budget statement. Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who stepped in as finance secretary while Kate Forbes was away on maternity leave, will set out the 2023/24 budget on Thursday.
The Scottish Tories, including the party’s finance and economy spokeswoman Liz Smith, have urged the government to support households and key public services amid rising costs. Ms Smith said the SNP was focused on “independence obsession” and “sitting on money that could help hard-pressed families and businesses now”.
She added: “It should immediately divert its vanity spending on a referendum that the courts have ruled out and abandon reckless plans for a costly, centralised National Care Service that everyone else can see is a bad idea.”
In response to SNP plans, a UK Government spokesperson said: “People in Scotland want both their governments to be concentrating on the issues that matter most to them – like growing our economy, getting people the help they need with their energy bills, and supporting our NHS. As the Prime Minister has been clear, we will continue to work constructively with the Scottish Government to tackle our shared challenges.”
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