SNP has dropped independence demands, claims Keir Starmer
The SNP has privately dropped demands for a new independence referendum, Sir Keir Starmer has claimed.
The prime minister said that John Swinney, the first minister, had not raised the issue with him prominently in their talks, with discussions instead focusing on issues such as jobs, energy, security and the cost of living.
Starmer also appeared to rule out any new vote on Scottish statehood while he remains in No 10, regardless of the results of the Holyrood elections next year. He said he could not 'imagine' the circumstances in which he would sanction a new referendum.
The prime minister's comments come after a Norstat poll for the Sunday Times, which found that support for independence had risen to 54 per cent — a record high in the series of polls — despite backing for the SNP declining.
After entering Bute House last year, Swinney put independence 'front and centre' of the party's manifesto for the general election, in which the party lost 39 of 48 seats.
However, there remains a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, which the SNP insists is a democratic mandate for a new vote on separation.
'I think it's really important to focus on the priorities that matter most,' Starmer said, in an interview with the BBC's Good Morning Scotland, when asked about independence.
'We got a big election win last year on the basis that we would stabilise the economy and ensure that on that foundation we built a stronger Scotland in a stronger United Kingdom and that's what I intend to do.'
He added: 'Nobody's raising that with me as their first priority, certainly in the discussions I'm having with the first minister. We're talking about jobs, energy, security and dealing with the cost of living crisis.'
Asked whether the results of the Holyrood election next year would change his mind, Starmer replied: 'No, it's not a priority.'
Swinney has claimed that after he became first minister last year, the SNP needed to regain trust of voters. He suggested he would attempt to build support for independence rather than replicating Nicola Sturgeon's strategy of focusing on the process of a new referendum.
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Sturgeon's decision to go to the Supreme Court made clear that the permission of the UK government would be needed for any vote on independence.
However, Swinney has said recently that independence would be 'central' to the party's message ahead of the Holyrood elections and that the UK government blocking a new referendum was 'completely unacceptable'.
Sir John Curtice, the polling expert, said that Scotland remained 'divided' on the constitution and that the SNP had a problem in that many who said they backed independence do not intend to vote for the party.
The Norstat poll published at the weekend found that despite 54 per cent of voters backing independence, only 33 per cent planned to vote for Swinney's party with their first vote at the elections, falling to 28 per cent on the regional list.
While the results suggest this would still be enough for the party to return to government as the largest party, this is largely the result of a dramatic decline in support for Labour over the past ten months and fracturing of the unionist vote, rather than a surge in enthusiasm for the SNP.
Stephen Gethins, the SNP MP, rejected the suggestion that independence was not a priority for the party leader. 'John Swinney has been a member of the SNP for 30, 40 years, a party that campaigns for and believes in independence,' he said. 'As well as believing in independence, campaigning on independence, he is also first minister.
'That means he's getting on with the job of delivering on issues like the NHS, energy, cost of living and a whole range of other areas. Believe it or not, politicians can do more than one thing, and believe in more than one thing, at once.'
Gethins added: 'I have to say it's a bit disappointing and maybe a bit arrogant of the prime minister to think he can speak for everybody. This shouldn't be an issue that's decided by one person at Downing Street or elsewhere. This should be a matter for the people of Scotland.'
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