By Staff, Agencies
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said he will not grant a second referendum on Scotland’s independence. However, ahead of the elections to the devolved parliament in Edinburgh, the Scottish National Party and its leader Nicola Sturgeon have vowed to demand another indyref2 if they secure a majority of seats.
The UK Prime Minister was grilled on the issue while visiting Hartlepool on 7 May, after Tory candidate Jill Mortimer defeated Labor rival Paul Williams in a “historic first” in the current constituency's history.
Thursday had been a bumper election day, when voters picked representatives for the Scottish and Welsh devolved Parliaments, as well as mayors, local councils in England, and one MP Asked if a Nationalist majority secured by the Scottish National Party [SNP] and its leader Nicola Sturgeon in the devolved Parliament meant there might be a mandate for another independence vote, Johnson was cited by The Telegraph as saying: “I think that count is still taking place and we’ll have to see what happens.
I listened to the Scottish election carefully.
My impression was that they [the SNP] moved away from the idea of a referendum, and I think very wisely.” Earlier, the SNP had stated that it planned to hold a new vote on secession by the end of 2023 if a pro-independence majority returned to Holyrood, as was the case in 2011.
Johnson, however, emphasized on Friday: “…I don’t think this is anything like the time to have more constitutional wrangling, to be talking about ripping our country apart, when actually people want to heal our economy and bounce forward together.
That’s what people want.” Responding to claims he had previously privately dismissed the possibility he might agree to a second referendum, Johnson stated: “I think a referendum in the current context is irresponsible and reckless.
Let me leave it at that.”