LABOUR’S plan to impose a 50% turnout rule on indyref2 has been rejected by MSPs.
James Kelly had put forward a stage two amendment to the the Referendums (Scotland) Bill which, if approved, would mean that a vote would only be valid if a minimum of half of the electorate cast their ballot.
But that proposal was rejected by Holyrood’s Constitution Committee, which instead backed a move which would allow the question for indyref2 to be the same as that used in the 2014 vote.
Constitutional Secretary Michael Russell succeeded in passing an amendment which allows Parliament to decide if it wants the plebiscite question to be examined by the Electoral Commission.
The motion also involves setting a “validity period” for a previously tested question of one term, allowing MSPs to extend this period to a second term, with the Electoral Commission consulted as part of this process. If another independence referendum were to happen after the 2021 Holyrood election, the Electoral Commission would automatically be required to assess any question used.
Russell described it as a “major concession” by the Scottish Government.
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