LIBDEM leadership contender Jo Swinson has said the UK should not allow a second independence referendum.
The MP, who has been pushing for a second Brexit vote, appeared on The Victoria Derbyshire show as part of a leadership debate with fellow contender Ed Davey.
🎙️Should we allow a second Scottish independence referendum?
— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) 27 June 2019
🗣️No
🎙️Are you a hypocrite then?
Lib Dem leadership contenders @joswinson and @EdwardJDavey both say they would not allow #indyref2https://t.co/itWoqHR0hH #VictoriaLIVE pic.twitter.com/VcNHr3JbHI
When asked by Derbyshire whether she was a hypocrite for taking the stance, Swinson responded: “No, because there’s a big difference.
"As I said, in 2014 in Scotland, we had a debate which was based on a very detailed White Paper – which to the SNP’s credit they put forward – that said this our plan for an independent Scotland”.
Derbyshire then asked the LibDem deputy leader if Britain leaves the EU, "then circumstances will have changed will they not?”
Swinson replied: “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, and this was a key issue in the election, and myself and others got elected. What most people in Scotland want is Scotland in the UK and the UK in the EU and it is only the Liberal Democrats who are making that case and standing up for both of those propositions.”
READ MORE: Jo Swinson claim on education in Scotland is ‘mostly false’
Ed Davey, who is also running for the LibDem leadership position, said he agreed, adding: "It’s really clear that in the independence referendum there was a detailed plan put forward for those people who want independence, completely different from Brexit when there was no plan whatsoever.”
The new LibDem leader will be announced July 23.
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