BORIS Johnson is being urged to ramp up the fight to save the Union by members of his own Cabinet, it has been reported.
Ministers are urging the Prime Minister to allow Scots living anywhere in the UK to be allowed to vote in a second independence referendum.
He's also being pushed to appoint Ruth Davidson as a constitutional secretary. Davidson stepped down as Scottish Tory leader and is expected to enter the House of Lords after being nominated for a peerage.
The new role would effectively make Davidson head of the pro-Union campaign.
The SNP have begun to ramp up their campaign for a second independence referendum, with the party's new national treasurer Colin Beattie giving an update on £600,000 raised by Yes supporters for indyref2.
SNP president and former constitution secretary Michael Russell has also been appointed to head up the party's independence unit.
READ MORE: Michael Russell appointed political director at SNP's independence unit
A Tory Cabinet minister told The Times: “We know Sturgeon will start trying to force another referendum as soon as she thinks it is politically tenable again, so there are things we can and should do now to be ready for her.
"One thing is to open up eligibility of the vote to all Scots in the UK, not just those living in Scotland. The other is to bring Ruth back into the front line. She is the best pro-Union voice we have.”
Another senior Tory figure who was not named suggested that pro-Union voices need to take advantage of a supposed dip in support for independence in recent polling.
They said: “Independence is behind in the polls now, and Sturgeon is getting flak from her own side for not talking about it since the election.
"We need to get out there on the front foot and start acting like we’re ahead and not just wait for her to catch up again, which was the catastrophic mistake we made after the 2014 referendum.”
While the Yes vote had been ahead in Scottish independence polling throughout most of 2020, No took a narrow lead in some polls in the run-up to May's Holyrood election.
It is estimated that about 800,000 people who were born in Scotland now live in England and up to 50,000 live in Wales.
Allowing Scots living elsewhere to have a say in an independence referendum was debated prior to the 2014 vote. Tories claim there is precedent for it considering the decision to allow British citizens living overseas a vote in the 2016 EU referendum.
Davidson told The Times that she would not rule out a ministerial job in the future, but indicated that the time is not yet right.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel