A Dundee MP has suggested “it’s time” to pull the trigger on a second independence referendum.
The SNP’s Chris Law has called for Nicola Sturgeon to fast-track a breakaway vote in the wake of a Brexit “power grab” from the Tories.
Ahead of today’s 20th anniversary of Scots backing devolution, Ms Sturgeon warned a Conservative plot to retain EU powers at Westminster represents the biggest threat to Holyrood’s authority for two decades.
Mr Law, who represents Dundee West, suggested that should lead to Indyref2.
He tweeted: “3 years since the referendum when Scotland voted to stay with the UK, we face leaving the EU & the UK diminish our powers. It’s time @theSNP”
A call for another vote in the short-term would be at odds with the First Minister’s official position.
In June, the SNP leader put Indyref2 on the backburner following the general election, in which the party lost 21 seats.
She abandoned her plan to hold an independence referendum before the point of Brexit, which is timetabled for March 2019, but said one was still “likely” before 2021.
3 years since the referendum when Scotland voted to stay with the UK, we face leaving the EU & the UK diminish our powers.It's time @theSNP https://t.co/JMWDJ7Cii3
— Chris Law MP (SNP) (@ChrisLawSNP) September 9, 2017
Ms Sturgeon, who is due to give a major speech in Edinburgh on Monday to mark the anniversary of the 1997 referendum, said repatriating Brussels powers to Westminster rather than Holyrood erodes the “founding basis” of the Scottish Parliament.
She wrote in the Sunday Herald: “The UK Government’s Brexit proposals — through the proposed EU (Withdrawal) Bill — constitute a blatant power grab which, far from enhancing the Scottish Parliament as has been claimed, would throw the process of devolution into reverse for the first time in two decades.”
Mr Law was a high-profile campaigner for the 2014 referendum, touring the country in a modified Green Goddess fire engine to promote the Yes cause.
Kirstene Hair, the Scottish Conservative MP for Angus, said she thinks people across Tayside will “despair” at the comments.
“On a day when we mark 20 years of devolution, we should be looking ahead at ways in which we can improve the lives of people in this country,” she said.
“Instead, we have an SNP politician wanting a re-run of a vote that was settled decisively in 2014.
“This is the last thing our country needs, when we should be focusing on securing the best deal we can from Brexit.”
