THE SNP have warned Boris Johnson he will “get swept away” after he ruled out a second independence referendum until 2055.
Depute leader Keith Brown joined the Scottish Greens in condemning the Prime Minister’s hardened position which he set out in a TV interview yesterday morning.
Brown said: “It may be a new year but it’s the same old incoherent bluster from Boris Johnson.
“The Prime Minister pretends otherwise but he knows he can’t keep on denying democracy.
“Even his American pal Donald Trump has learned that if you try to stand in the way of the democratic choice of a nation you get swept away.
“The people who will decide our future are the people of Scotland, not Boris Johnson and the Westminster Tories.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Johnson said that the gap between referendums on Europe – the first in 1975 and the second in 2016 – was “a good sort of gap”.
READ MORE: Ex-SNP deputy Jim Sillars says Nicola Sturgeon should 'deprioritise' indyref2
Marr suggested that since the 2014 vote “things had changed” for Scotland, after leaving the European Union and the coronavirus pandemic.
He asked Johnson what a voter in Scotland should do if they decided that a second independence referendum was now something they wanted, what were “the democratic tools in my hands to now do that?”
The Prime Minister said: “Referendums in my experience, direct experience, in this country are not particularly jolly events.
“They don’t have a notably unifying force in the national mood, they should be only once in a generation.”
Asked what the difference was between a referendum on EU membership being granted and one on Scottish independence being requested, he said: “The difference is we had a referendum in 1975 and we then had another one in 2016. That seems to be about the right sort of gap.”
The same 41 year gap in terms of the independence referendum would mean that Johnson would think it would not be right or Scots to have another vote on the matter until 2055.
His comments led to a furious backlash.
James Ker-Lindsay, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, responded on Twitter.
“The idea that Scotland should wait 40 years for another vote on independence is obscene. The whole basis of the 2014 vote has been invalidated by Brexit. There’s now an unassailable moral case for a new vote when the people of Scotland show they want one,” he wrote.
Some 17 polls have given a majority to independence with the most recent from The Scotsman/Savanta ComRes, showing support for a second independence referendum growing.
With “don’t knows” excluded, 58% of voters said they would now vote yes for independence, with 42% voting no. The 2014 referendum resulted in a 55.3% vote against independence.
On Hogmanay, Nicola Sturgeon said Europe should “keep a light on” as Scotland will be “back soon”. The First Minister tweeted just after the Brexit transition period formally ended at 11pm on December 31.
Tweeting a picture of the words “Europe” and “Scotland” joined by a love heart, she wrote: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”
READ MORE: SNP must stop making it easy for Boris Johnson to deny indyref2
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater also attacked Johnson’s remarks. She said: “Only the people of Scotland have the right to determine Scotland’s future.
“Seventeen consecutive opinion polls have demonstrated majorities in favour of independence, with the most recent indicating a record 58% support.
“Whether it’s the botched handling of the coronavirus crisis, the Brexit catastrophe or just the heartlessness of Tory governments we haven’t voted for, it’s clear that the UK isn’t working for Scotland.”
In November Scottish Secretary Alister Jack suggested another vote on independence could be “25 to 40” years away as he cited the “once in a generation” claim.
Asked to define a generation, he said: “Is it 25 years or is it 40 years? You tell me, but it’s certainly not six years nor 10.” However, after fury in Scotland he later went back on his suggestion that an independence referendum should be banned for 40 years, claiming he had been speaking “jocularly”.
He then said he now regarded 25 years as the minimum period, based on the SNP claim before the 2014 vote that it was a once in a generation event. Johnson was the first guest on Marr this year and was also asked about Brexit and the pandemic.
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