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Together with Inverclyde Councilman Chris McEleny, Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil wants the manifesto for next year’s Holyrood election to include a promise that a pro-independence majority would be mandated to begin negotiations with Westminster for Scotland to leave the UK, effectively. turn the elections into a de facto referendum. The SNP’s annual conference in June was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with a virtual conference scheduled for next month, the couple hoped to gain support for the idea there.
However, they said that the SNP activists had been “denied the right to debate the party’s independence strategy” and were instead offered an open mic session, which will not set the party’s policy.
MacNeil said: “Scotland should now be in a position to free itself from this kamikaze cliff-jump by the Conservatives, or more correctly, the Scottish government should be.”
“However, the cold and hard fact that some of us don’t want to admit is that we have no escape.”
Current SNP policy, which MacNeil refers to as Plan A, is based on the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom agreeing to grant Ms Sturgeon permission to call a second independence referendum in accordance with Section 30 of the Act Scotland 1988.
In a clear message to party leader and Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, MacNeil added: “The Scottish government is unarmed to fight or even improve the options that the Tories have imposed on us.
“We have ended up here at the mercy of the conservatives by our own hand. Unless we change our Plan A-only policy, no matter how boldly those with the microphone proclaim that Plan A has ‘momentum’ or that Boris Johnson’s position it is “unsustainable”.
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“Before the general elections last year, it was said that we did not need a Plan B because Boris Johnson’s opposition to a referendum would be annihilated by a victory for the SNP.
“We won overwhelmingly in the general election and he still said no.
“If the SNP wins the majority next year, and the polls show even greater support for independence, will Westminster suddenly accept a referendum when they are even more likely to lose it?”
He argued that the Plan B approach would put “political pressure on the UK government to accept a referendum” and also “makes clear that the SNP will ensure that Scotland’s democratic voice is heard.”
MacNeil’s SNP MP Peter Wishart suggested that excluding the topic from debate was a “mistake.”
He tweeted: “We need you to conclude this damaging debate so that we can unite around an agreed path.”
An SNP spokesperson said: “Effective leadership during the global pandemic is showing real momentum in support of an independent Scotland.”
“Next month’s SNP conference will focus on what is important to the people of Scotland, and independence will be at the center of the debate.”
Commenting, Scottish Conservative Constitution spokesman Dean Lockhart said: “In the midst of a pandemic, the last thing Scotland needs is another divisive independence referendum.”
“The fact that SNP senior MPs share their frustration on the issue shows exactly where their priorities lie.
“The people of Scotland are concerned about their work and their livelihoods, not leading Scotland into the divisions of the past.”
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