The three remaining candidates to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader have signalled they would block a second referendum on Scottish independence if they take power.
Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt will face another ballot among Conservative MPs later today which will see one of them eliminated from the contest.
The final two will then more than a month to canvass support from Tory party members before a final winner is declared on September 5.
But whoever wins is likely to face a show-down with Nicola Sturgeon over the issue of an IndyRef2.
Truss - the bookies' favourite - insisted the last vote in 2014 was "a once in a generation referendum and we’re now in 2022. That is not a generation ago".
And former chancellor Sunak said: "I don’t think arguing about another referendum now is remotely the right priority".
Mordaunt said: "'I think this is a settled question. Wee recently had a referendum and this is not going to be something that I’m going to be looking at."
The three candidates were all asked the same question - "Are there any circumstances in which you would agree to a second Scottish independence referendum?'" - by the Spectator.
The Scottish Government has asked the Supreme Court to decide whether it has the powers to hold another independence referendum on October 19 next year.
The First Minister has argued the legal row could be avoided if the UK Government agreed to a section 30 order - which would temporarily loan Holyrood the powers required to stage a vote.
SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson said: "The recent Scottish Government papers refreshing the case for independence provide a wealth of evidence on how democracy in Britain is broken and this ludicrous leadership election is just the latest example.
"How as few as one in 500 Scots get a say in how Britain is governed and by whom is an outrage and should concern anyone who believes democracy is worth defending.
"The next leader of the Tories, like their previous two predecessors can - on their personal whim and spouting anti-democratic nonsense like ‘now is not the time’ - try to block Scotland’s democratic right to determine our own future to keep us shackled to corrosive Westminster control.
"The SNP was returned to power last year with a cast-iron mandate to hold a referendum and the Tory denial of that democratic reality makes an absolute mockery of the claim that the UK is a voluntary nation of equals.
"The people of Scotland have the right to choose our own future as a wealthier, fairer, happier independent country."
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