WILLIE Rennie has said he won't support a second independence referendum "under any circumstances at any time".
The LibDem leader was probed by Sophie Ridge earlier today on Sky News regarding previous comments where he said he would vote against independence at any opportunity.
Ridge asked if the SNP win a majority after the election on May 6, and with that a mandate for a second referendum, how Rennie could argue that it was democratic to resist that going forward.
Rennie said: "It’s very democratic that I follow what my voters tell me to do, I’m against another independence referendum because I think it will distract the country at a time when we need to build recovery, if people vote for me on the basis I’m clear, crystal clear, in an election campaign then it would be bizarre if I did the opposite after the election.
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"But I don’t accept the premise of your question anyway because all the polls are showing that there’s a decline in support for independence and for the SNP because people know now is not the moment to choose another independence referendum when we’ve got so many challenges to overcome.
"I mean we’ve got a mountain of mental health waits in this country, over 1500 people wait over a year, young people, wait over a year to get mental health treatment, that’s five thousand adults wait over a year, we’ve got oneof the highest drug death rates in Europe, three times higher than England.
"We need to focus on these challenges, to try and get recovery, to try and improve ordinary people’s lives.They won’t get that with another independence referendum and that’s why I will not support it under any circumstances at any time."
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie says he will not back another independence referendum "under any circumstances at any time" #Ridge
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) May 2, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/kxi8gw8kX0 pic.twitter.com/sK0t7QjKw1
It comes as the Lib Dem leader and Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross both refused to explain how Scotland could set out a democratic path to independence as they were grilled by Andrew Marr.
The Scottish Tory leader was asked twice by the BBC journalist this morning to set out the democratic route Scots could take to holding a second constitutional vote, but dodged the question and said he “doesn’t want” one to be held in the first place.
Meanwhile, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie was also asked the same question and deflected, saying it was democratic for him to stand against a referendum at this election and that parliament should focus on recovery.
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