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Former Prime Minister Sir John Major has suggested that Scotland could win two referenda on independence.
Sir John said a refusal by Boris Johnson to sanction another vote could boost support for the split.
“By law, Scots require the approval of the Westminster government before they can legally hold a new independence referendum,” he said in a speech delivered at the Middle Temple 2020 Lecture Series.
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“But rejecting one could help the separatist case, by adding to the list of grievances that the Scottish National Party so skillfully exploits.”
“The choice of the UK government is either to accept the referendum or to refuse to allow it.
“Both options carry great risk.”
Sir John, who was in Downing Street from 1990 to 1997, said the saga surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union could offer a potential solution.
“The Westminster government could agree to hold an independence referendum, based on two referendums,” he said.
“The first to vote on the beginning of the negotiations and the second on the result of the same.
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“The purpose of the second referendum would be for Scottish voters to know why they were voting and to be able to compare it to what they have now.
“This did not happen with Brexit: if it had, it is possible that there would have been no Brexit.
“Many Scottish voices, and especially from business, can support the logic of this: it can turn minds away from a short-term reflex opposition to a perceived English government, and return to the long-term and mutual virtues of the Union.”
Voters in Scotland chose to remain in the UK in a 2014 referendum.
Nicola Sturgeon maintains that circumstances have changed since the 2014 referendum
But Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued that the 2016 vote in favor of Brexit, which saw Scotland vote in favor of Remain, has turned things around.
Recent polls have shown greater support for independence, but so far Johnson has refused to grant permission for another vote.
Kirsten Oswald, the Westminster deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, said Sir John’s comments should serve as a “wake-up call” for Johnson’s “undemocratic stance.”
“Poll after poll has shown that independence is now becoming the established will of the majority of the people in Scotland, and it is the Scottish people who must decide their future,” he said.
“It is not up to the disengaged Westminster governments to dictate the terms of a referendum or dictate the future of the people of Scotland.”
