A Tory majority would give Theresa May the mandate to block an independence referendum for five years, senior Conservatives have said.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said he cannot foresee allowing another vote before 2022 if Jeremy Corbyn is defeated on Thursday.
Mrs May repeated her mantra that “now is not the time” for another referendum in an interview with the Scottish Daily Mail, adding there will be no discussions on it after this week’s general election vote.
Mr Corbyn has said he will open talks with the SNP administration over an independence referendum if he wins the election.
But asked about it in Glasgow on Wednesday, the Labour leader said: “The priority is the election of a Labour government… I do not see the urgency or the need for an independence referendum.”
Last night, Nicola Sturgeon claimed Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale had told her she would not oppose another secession vote in the wake of the Brexit vote.
That accusation was strongly denied by Ms Dugdale, who says a 2014 re-run would be divisive and damaging.
Mrs May took a gamble when she refused to allow another vote on the timescale demanded by the Scottish Parliament.
Commentators and critics said that rejection – even in the short-term – risked driving Scots to the independence cause.
A five-year embargo on a vote heightens that risk, but she is on the side of opinion polls, which currently show most Scots do not want another referendum.
The next Holyrood elections are in 2021, when the Yes movement could lose its pro-independence majority in the parliament.
