NICOLA Sturgeon refused to rule out a second independence referendum yesterday – as Theresa May insisted Scots don’t want one.
The First Minister refused to say if a Bill paving the way for another vote would be part of her programme for government to be unveiled at Holyrood on Tuesday.
On Friday, she had launched a new drive for independence, promising the SNP would undertake a huge canvas of voters, knocking on doors, and speaking to two million Scots before St Andrew’s Day.
Yesterday, she promised “a government acting in the best interests of all of Scotland – a government for everyone who lives here”.
But she made no mention of a second referendum Bill, which experts say needs the approval of Westminster.
The 2014 vote was possible because Alex Salmond and David Cameron hammered out a deal known as the Edinburgh Agreement.
But Theresa May yesterday said of a referendum: “I don’t think it’s a question of whether there could be, I think it’s a question of whether there should be.
“If you look at some of the results that are now coming out of polling in Scotland, they suggest the Scottish people don’t want there to be a second referendum.”
Speaking to Andrew Marr on his BBC 1 show, the PM also ruled out a second Brexit vote and a snap general election before 2020.
Political science professor Matt Qvortrup, once described by Salmond as “the world’s foremost expert on constitutional referendums”, said a second Scottish vote would need Downing Street approval.
He said: “When the Edinburgh Agreement was signed, it only allowed that particular referendum.
“Under international and national law, you can only have a referendum on independence if both countries agree to it – unless you live in a dictatorship.
“I’m afraid Nicola Sturgeon will have to ask Theresa May, and that will be an interesting battle.”
Qvortrup added: “Cameron was pretty relaxed about a referendum and thought he was going to win anyway.
“But Theresa May has been clear she is not going to accept the break-up of the UK.”
Sturgeon claimed on Friday that the political landscape had changed after the “seismic” Brexit vote and collapse of Labour.
James Mitchell, professor of politics at Edinburgh University, believes the current independence debate is a “phoney war”.
Mitchell, co-author of Takeover: Explaining The Extraordinary Rise Of The SNP, said: “I do question how significant Friday’s launch was. Nicola Sturgeon had to be seen to be doing things, but there was no suggestion to me that a referendum was any closer.
“I think unless there is a significant shift in public opinion, she will not go for it. She and the SNP want a referendum as soon as possible – that is as soon as it is possible to win.”
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson told supporters in Perth yesterday that SNP were “dragging” Scotland backwards with “the lead weight of separatism”.
Meanwhile, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie warned his supporters the Tories would “always put their party before our country”.
He said: “If we leave the campaign for Scotland’s place in the UK to the Conservatives it will fail.
“We need progressive moderate, optimistic, hopeful voices that advance a ‘no borders’ approach in relation to the UK and Europe.
“The current Labour Party shows little sign of providing that voice so Liberal Democrats must speak up.”
