STEWART Hosie will head a summer initiative targetting No voters across the country in a major drive to put the case for Scottish independence to the electorate.
The SNP depute leader and economy spokesman is being handed the job of lead strategist in the campaign announced by Nicola Sturgeon at the party’s spring conference.
He is due to set up a working group over the next few weeks which is expected to invite senior figures in the Yes movement – some of whom are now MPs.
Further details are due to be announced after the Holyrood election on May 5 and before the EU referendum on June 23, but it is understood work will be carried out to assess the merits and shortcomings of the 2014 independence campaign as well as come up with cogent responses to questions on issues such as what currency an independent Scotland would use, its membership of the European Union and its economy.
The initiative has been intensely discussed at the weekly group meetings of the SNP’s parliamentary group at Westminster and MPs have been putting pressure on the leadership to launch it just after the Holyrood elections and before the EU referendum.
Many of the original group of 56 SNP MPs became actively involved with the party as a direct result of the 2014 campaign and are concerned that the momentum from the independence referendum is not lost.
Hosie’s new role was announced by the party’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson at a recent meeting of the parliamentary group in the House of Commons.
“What’s going to happen is that Stewart Hosie is being given the role [to head up the initiative] as part of his remit,” one insider told The National. “He will take on a role akin to that of Blair Jenkins in the Yes campaign, as chief organiser and strategist.”
The insider added: “The party is going to look at the 2014 campaign, what worked, what didn’t, what worked in rural areas, what worked in towns and cities. Clearly we are also going to look at the big issues, the currency, the economy, European Union membership.
“There is an incredible appetite for people to be involved. The independence referendum is what brought many of us to the party and we want to make sure that everything we learnt in 2014 is put to good use. We want to be at the heart of the second independence referendum campaign.”
Meanwhile, in a separate development yesterday it emerged Nicola Sturgeon could face a “tough decision” on whether to call another independence referendum if the UK leaves the European Union with a new poll suggesting support has fallen.
The SNP leader has cited a UK vote to leave the EU against Scotland’s will as a material change of circumstances from 2014 which would “almost certainly” trigger another independence referendum.
But Brexit would only push support for Scottish independence up slightly – from 47 per cent to 50 per cent – leaving the country split down the middle, according to a Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times and Heart FM.
Support has dipped from 52 per cent who said they would vote for independence if the UK left the EU in a similar poll in January.
John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, told the Sunday Times: “Although Scotland apparently remains determined to vote by nearly two to one in favour of remaining in the EU, this does not mean that a UK-wide vote to leave would necessarily clear the way for Nicola Sturgeon to hold and win a second independence referendum.
“Such an outcome is more likely to leave her with a tough decision as to whether to call a second referendum at all.”
Curtice said a 50:50 split on independence would leave Sturgeon “well short of the 60 per cent support for independence she says she would want to see before calling a second referendum”.
Panelbase interviewed 1,021 adults resident in Scotland from April 6 to 15.
Support for the EU remains higher in Scotland than in England, with 63 per cent supporting continued UK membership of the EU and 37 per cent supporting withdrawal.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “Greens are proud of the part we played in the independence referendum and we believe Scotland will choose to ask itself the question again. When that moment comes the case for independence must be stronger, more compelling, and Greens have already pledged to do the ground work to help build that case.
“A real strength of the Yes campaign was the diversity of voices, so if the SNP are looking for suggestions they are welcome to approach us.”
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