A FRESH bid by SNP rebels to have a debate on a Plan B to independence could see some members disrupt the opening of the party’s conference, The National has been told.
MP Angus MacNeil and senior councillor Chris McEleny have been trying to get a possible alternative route to independence discussed if Boris Johnson or any successive Prime Minister refuses to give Holyrood the necessary powers to hold a plebiscite.
They believe if the UK government refuse a section 30 order to allow a referendum on independence, then the SNP should adopt a position that a pro-independence majority elected at the next election would act as a direct mandate to enter straight into independence negotiations with the UK Government.
Their proposal is a departure from SNP policy which backs a referendum on terms agreed with the UK Government and their attempts to have it discussed at the party conference have been thwarted.
In the latest move McEleny will use a technical procedure at the opening of the conference in Aberdeen on Sunday to try again. Before the event can begin, the agenda must be approved by delegates. Normally such a move is uncontroversial and the agenda is passed by acclamation, without going to a vote.
READ MORE: Bid to have indyref2 'Plan B' debated at SNP conference looks doomed
But at the opening on Sunday it is understood some members may try and oppose the agenda.
McEleny will put down an amendment backing the agenda but on condition it includes a debate on Plan B.
“I know some people can get tied up in procedural issues and the ins and outs of how the conference agenda got put together, but it’s clear that SNP members will be travelling from across Scotland and we will be the party offering real political leadership in the face of UK Brexit chaos,” he said.
“The constitution of the party allows business to be added so I will propose that members present are allowed a debate on independence Plan B. It’s a plan that will ensure that if the UK Government attempts to silence Scotland then we will make sure our democratic voice is heard. I think it’s fitting then to put to SNP members if this is a debate they want at their conference.”
McEleny and MacNeil initially submitted their proposal in July to party bosses, but the conference committee turned it down saying such a policy change was too significant a development for a single conference debate and would require broader consultation with the membership.
In a second attempt to get the plan aired, MacNeil and McEleny resubmitted the resolution as an amendment to a motion by Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Early Years Minister Maree Todd marking the achievements of the Scottish Parliament. The Swinney motion was then pulled after delegates gave it a low ranking. The Plan B debate was also axed.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to follow the same legal process for the next referendum as the one held in 2014.
Asked about alternative routes to independence at an Edinburgh fringe event in August, she underlined her support for the existing plan to request referendum powers from the UK Government and pointed to Labour’s position that they would not block a new vote.
“Why should I be talking about the alternatives to doing it the right way? It’s the people who are trying to block it from doing it the right way who should be under pressure,” she said at the time. What on earth is democratic about any Westminster Government saying that even though there is a democratic mandate, even though the Scottish Parliament has voted for this, that they have the right to block it?
“And particularly just now when that undemocratic, unsustainable position has started to crumble. We’ve seen it from John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn, even within the Tories, we are starting to see them ‘ah well, maybe if they’ve got a majority in 20..’. So let’s just keep the pressure there. So we can have the referendum in the right way. In the gold standard way and then Scotland can become an independent country.”
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