Latest news with #independencereferendum
The Independent
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Referendum rejection would need to be reviewed if there is ‘overwhelming desire'
The UK Government should reconsider allowing a second independence referendum if there is an 'overwhelming desire' for it in Scotland, Michael Gove has said. The Tory grandee was part of successive governments which turned down formal requests for another vote in recent years. But speaking to the BBC, he said an increase in support would warrant a rethink in Westminster. 'I don't believe that it's necessary at the moment,' he said of another vote on separation. 'I think if there's an overwhelming desire on the part of the Scottish people for one, then we'd have to review the situation.' He added: 'If, for the sake of argument, the SNP make all of those decisions in government in a way that gives people confidence in them, then we might be in a different position.' Asked how he would define an 'overwhelming desire', the former minister said: 'It's not for me, ultimately, it's for the Government, the Westminster Government, to decide that, they've got the daily responsibilities.' The comments from Mr Gove, who is soon to enter the House of Lords as Lord Gove of Torry, were similar to those made by Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, earlier this month. Mr Swinney last week said he would seek to secure 'demonstrable support' for another referendum before attempting to push Westminster for one, but added that the issue will remain 'central' to his party's campaign for next year's election. SNP depute leader Keith Brown welcomed the comments, claiming the former minister had 'finally seen sense'. 'After denying a referendum to Scotland in the face of multiple pro-independence majorities while in Government, I welcome that Michael Gove has at long last seen sense and is now backing the right of the Scottish people to determine their own future,' he said. 'After the broken promises of 2014, Brexit, Boris, Labour's disastrous term in Government, and now the rise of Farage, people want the real change that only independence can bring. 'This comment shows that even former ministers like Michael Gove know that the current unionist plan – of denying Scotland the right to decide on independence regardless of the circumstances – cannot go on forever.' Elsewhere, Mr Gove gave his backing to Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay following a slump in the polls. The party has struggled since the election last year and recent surveys have suggested Nigel Farage's Reform UK could push them into third place at next year's Holyrood poll. But Mr Gove warned MSPs and party members not to 'panic'. 'If you're a fan of Aberdeen Football Club, you know that sometimes you'll have a very good run, sometimes you'll have a very difficult run, but in the end, you might end up in the top two,' he said. 'So the important thing to do is not to change the manager, but to stick together as a team and to show the fighting spirit necessary to battle through.'
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer's failures prove Scotland needs independence, says SNP leader
Sir Keir Starmer's failings and the rise of Nigel Farage proves Scotland needs another independence referendum, John Swinney has said. The First Minister said Scottish voters were feeling 'disaffected and alienated' after Labour told them before last year's general election that they 'didn't need independence' for their lives to improve. Instead, he said, Sir Keir 'had let them down' by stripping pensioners of their winter fuel payments, forcing families to pay higher energy bills and imposing a 'jobs tax' on business by hiking employers' National Insurance. In a keynote speech marking a year until the May 2026 Holyrood election, Mr Swinney argued that the Prime Minster's record in office had also 'opened the door to Farage'. Mr Swinney said Labour had 'failed to stand up to' the Reform UK leader, and was dancing to his 'tune on immigration'. The SNP leader added: 'At Westminster, Nigel Farage may not be in office – but he is very much in power.' The First Minister claimed there was an 'ill wind of change blowing through UK politics' that could see Mr Farage into 10 Downing Street, saying it 'should be a wake-up call for people across Scotland'. Citing last week's local elections in England, in which Reform routed Labour and the Tories, Mr Swinney argued that 'the future of the UK is looking increasingly unrecognisable'. He said it was up to the SNP 'to offer a brighter future' for an independent Scotland, and the party was 'getting all of our ducks in a row' to make this happen. Mr Swinney argued the UK Government should allow another independence referendum if nationalist parties hold a majority of Holyrood's seats after next year's election. Independence campaign The First Minister later acknowledged he was relaunching the SNP's independence campaign, having said little on the issue since he succeeded Humza Yousaf a year ago. He said his party had 'lost the right to be heard by the people of Scotland' in the aftermath of last year's general election, when it was bested by Labour, but that now was the right time to start a 'bigger debate' about independence. But Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said Mr Swinney was only 'talking up Reform', as Nigel Farage's party would further split the unionist vote in next year's election and help the SNP retain power. Mr Findlay said John Swinney's 'dirty little secret' was that he was 'thrilled' by Mr Farage and wanted to help Reform succeed in Scotland. Both Mr Findlay and Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, accused the First Minister of using Mr Farage as a ' bogeyman ' to distract from his record. Mr Swinney reignited the SNP's independence campaign as he, Mr Findlay and Mr Sarwar all gave keynote speeches to lay the ground for their Holyrood campaigns, a year from election day. A series of polls have indicated the SNP is on course to win an unprecedented fifth term in office following a collapse in Labour support during the troubled early months of Sir Keir's premiership. Speaking in Edinburgh in front of the SNP's candidates for Holyrood's constituency seats, Mr Swinney said: 'For years, Labour told people in Scotland that they didn't need independence – we just needed to get rid of the Tories and everything will change. 'No wonder so many people are feeling disaffected and alienated right now. The choice is to accept things as they are, or to act differently. 'What surer way to tackle alienation than with the overwhelming sense of empowerment of becoming an independent nation which is ours to create?' He said the SNP could build a 'winning coalition for independence' by demonstrating to Scots the purported benefits of leaving the UK. Nationalists lost the 2014 independence referendum by almost 11 percentage points and the UK Government has blocked successive attempts by the SNP to secure a second vote. But Mr Swinney said he wanted next year's election 'to shift the tectonic plates of Scottish politics and create a wave of hope that will overcome Westminster's wall of despair'. He added: 'What I'm determined to do is to make sure we get the significant SNP win that drives that agenda, and enables us to have a referendum on independence.' Reform a 'political bogeyman' Pressed on what the benchmark should be for another referendum to take place, Mr Swinney said a 'democratic majority in the Scottish Parliament'. The three nationalist parties are the SNP, Greens and the Alba Party. His speech came the day after he unveiled his programme for government for the coming year, which included a pledge to publish a report on the economic benefits of independence. But Mr Findlay said: 'If John Swinney spent as much time reforming public services as talking up Reform, Scotland might get somewhere. But that's too difficult for the SNP. 'Nationalists always promote a political bogeyman instead of doing the hard work of good governance. And that's why John Swinney constantly talks up Nigel Farage's Reform. Because a vote for Reform is a gift to the SNP.' Addressing an audience of Tory activists and MSPs in Edinburgh, Mr Findlay said voters should not be surprised that the First Minister is about to 'waste more cash on his obsession with breaking up our country'. Speaking in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said: 'Instead of dealing with its own failures, John Swinney will recklessly talk up Nigel Farage. 'Farage is John Swinney's new power to replace the Tories but, the truth is, I don't care about Nigel Farage, and Nigel Farage doesn't care about Scotland.' But Thomas Kerr, a Reform UK councillor, said: 'Let me be crystal clear: Reform UK is not here to prop up John Swinney. 'We're here to replace the tired, failing parties that have propped each other up for years while Scotland's services crumbled and its people were told to make do with less.'
