Both sides of debate should get together to chart course to indyref2 – SNP Westminster leader

Leading figures on both sides of the Scottish independence debate should join with civic Scotland to try to chart a course to a second independence referendum, the SNP’s Westminster leader has suggested.

Stephen Flynn accepted it would take “bravery” for both independence supporters and unionists to take part in such a process.

His comments came as he said he did not believe voters “would say no again” if another vote on Scotland’s future in the UK was to be held.

But almost 10 years on from the independence referendum, he said Scotland was stuck in a constitutional “impasse”, with people evenly split on whether to remain part of the UK or become an independent nation.

Referendum 

The 2014 referendum was held after the SNP won an overall majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament, with then prime minister David Cameron granting permission for the vote to take place.

But, since then, successive UK prime ministers have refused requests from the Scottish first ministers for another vote to be held, while the UK Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Government does not have the power to organise its own ballot.

As a result of that, Mr Flynn said there was now a “need to get to a position where we all – both those who support the union and those who support independence – understand the pathway which is available to deliver a referendum”.

He stressed action was important “because neither side has won”, with the SNP MP saying: “We are still roughly 50/50 each way, give or take a percentage here or there. It is the one thing that hasn’t shifted.”

Adding that Scotland was “stuck in this impasse of roughly 50/50” Mr Flynn said: “In order to come to a conclusion and to move things forward we need to understand the framework.”

He suggested that “the leading figures of unionism and the leading figures of Scottish nationalism” should be “in a room alongside civic society in Scotland plotting out how we come together and find a reasonable solution”.

Framework

He added that any framework drawn up by such a group for a second referendum “maybe doesn’t meet all of our expectations on either side” – but said that it would allow the Scottish people to “understand how they can have a vote on their future” – with Mr Flynn declaring this to be the “most important thing”.

His suggestion has echoes of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, which was formed in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 election victory, and brought together political parties, along with trade union leaders, the churches and other prominent figures from Scottish life, to make the case for a Scottish Parliament.

While the SNP was initially involved with the convention, the party withdrew from it because its focus was on a devolved assembly, not independence. Meanwhile the Conservatives, who were opposed to devolution at the time, took no part in it.

With a decade having now passed since the 2014 referendum, Mr Flynn insisted it was “long overdue that senior politicians in London and senior politicians in Edinburgh and senior figures in civic society need to get together and break the impasse which exists”.

Prosper

The SNP Westminster leader said: “It would serve Scotland well for that to happen because we can’t, in my view, as a society prosper if we have another 10 years of people saying, ‘next time’ or UK politicians saying this isn’t happening, ‘now is not the time’.

“That’s why we need to have serious politicians having serious discussions in rooms together to come to a conclusion.”

He insisted: “I think the time has come for the grown-ups to get into the room and work together in the best interests of the Scottish people to get to a conclusion on this.”

Mr Flynn continued: “Obviously, my views are well known, I want Scotland to be independent. But we need to move this forward and the only way to move it forward is dialogue.

“People on both sides of the constitutional divide need to come together to chart a course through which people can have their say.

“And that is going to take bravery on the side of nationalists, who believe you can just get on and do this and I think it is going to require bravery on the side of unionists.

“But I reckon for the vast majority of the Scottish public, that is what they would expect serious politicians to do in serious times.”

He continued: “I think it is probably a reflection of maybe all of us in politics over the last 10 years that we haven’t yet came to a grown-up position about the terms through which the people of Scotland can express their view.

“Maybe with the new Government in London and an SNP Government in Edinburgh we can do that now.”