APPEARING on a LibDem leadership debate on the Victoria Derbyshire show, Jo Swinson claimed the SNP had no mandate for an independence referendum.
She said: “There’s not a mandate in Scotland to have a second independence referendum.
“The SNP have been putting forward their case and they have been losing seats – they lost 21 MPs at the 2017 election, where this was a key issue.”
So, how true is that claim?
The SNP was elected to the Scottish Parliament with the most seats at 2016’s elections on a mandate to hold an independence referendum.
The party’s manifesto read: “We believe that the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold another referendum if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will.”
Together with the Scottish Greens, also in favour of a new vote, it means the Scottish Parliament has a majority in support of indyref2.
Indeed, in March 2017, the Scottish Parliament voted by a majority of 10 to formally request powers to hold an independence referendum around the Brexit date.
This again gives Holyrood a right to seek to hold indyref2. This is strengthened by the House of Commons in 2018 formally endorsing Scotland’s Claim of Right, agreeing the people of Scotland are sovereign with the right to determine the best form of government for themselves.
Furthermore, the SNP manifesto going into the 2017 General Election said if the party won “a majority of Scottish seats”, voters would be backing the right for Scotland to have a choice over our future once the Brexit deal terms were known. The party won 35 of the 59 seats available.
This triple lock gives the Scottish Parliament a mandate from voters to hold an independence referendum amid Brexit.
Also worth mentioning is the SNP winning 31 of 32 council areas in 2019’s EU election despite the Tories running on a campaign of “say no to more referendums”.
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