SNP humiliated as party's own MP admits independence plan won't work
First Minister Humza Yousaf speaking at the SNP independence convention at Caird Hall in Dundee.
PA
The Scottish National Party has scored a massive own goal after a veteran MP admitted its independence plan “probably” will not work.
Perth & North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001, instead insisted the UK Government would likely ignore the SNP’s de facto referendum pledge.
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf committed the SNP to declare a mandate to negotiate independence if the party wins the upcoming general election in Scotland.
The SNP leader later clarified a majority of seats in Scotland would constitute a victory.
SNP MP Pete Wishart
PA
Yousaf said the SNP’s manifesto would include the promise: “Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country.”
However, Wishart poured damp water on Yousaf’s pledge.
Speaking to Holyrood magazine, he said: “My proposal is that we look at every election as a referendum.
“With the first line of an SNP manifesto saying that if we secure the majority of the votes in this election, Scotland is determined to become an independent country.
The SNP have suffered a poll collapse
PA
“We would need 50 per cent plus one of all that vote. Would the UK accept it? Probably not.
“But we are not responsible for how the UK responds to these situations and what we will have done is demonstrate to the UK and the world that Scotland has decided to be an independent nation.
“And whether that elicits some sort of positive response from the UK, I don't know, but they might actually go 'oh, alright, you've done it', and it will move things forward.”
Wishart added: “I think there is a chance we will be independent in the next five years, but I think we have got to accept the position that we find ourselves in just now.
Scottish independence supporters march through Glasgow during an All Under One Banner marchPA“The easy route out of all of this was an agreed referendum, but that has all but been closed down.
“I am at a point where I have accepted the "no" from the UK Government for now and I think that they are serious when they say that.
“So that route has gone, and we now have to start to try and be creative and different about how we try and secure this agreed referendum.”
Yousaf is currently struggling to deal with the fallout of the Operation Branchform scandal engulfing the SNP.
Humza Yousaf speaking in the SNP leadership hustings at Rothes Halls, GlenrothesJeff J MitchellSupport for the pro-independence party has slipped from 45 per cent at the last general election to just 34 per cent, an opinion poll by Panelbase has revealed.
Labour, who were routed by the SNP and replaced as Scotland’s largest party in 2015, have pulled level.
The Conservative Party continue to struggle to emulate the support they received across the United Kingdom in 2019, with just 18 per cent of Scots voicing support for the Tories.