Scottish Independence

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross is seeking urgent talks with the leaders of the other pro-UK parties, calling on them to unite and work together to stop pro-independence parties winning a majority at Holyrood. Ross said the action was needed after Alex Salmond was unveiled as the leader of the new Alba Party – which […]

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has announced he is setting up a new political party to contest May’s Scottish parliament election. Salmond will stand in the North East region and lead the Alba Party, which will field at least four candidates in the regional lists. Chris McEleny, an SNP councillor in Inverclyde, has resigned […]

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has announced he is setting up a new political party to run in the Scottish Parliament elections in May. Salmond made the announcement during a public statement on Friday afternoon. The Alba Party is expected to field at least four candidates in each regional list at this May’s elections. It […]

Division within the SNP could be impacting on support for Scottish independence, a new report has claimed. Scotland’s governing party has been hit by internal disputes, with former first minister Alex Salmond claiming leading figures in the SNP had been involved in a conspiracy against him. Meanwhile, his successor Nicola Sturgeon is facing a vote […]

The Scottish government has published a draft Bill for a second vote on independence. Constitution secretary Mike Russell said that while the timing of such a vote should be determined by the next Scottish parliament, ministers believe people living north of the border “have the right to decide how we recover from the pandemic and […]

Independence for Scotland would be like Brexit on a rocket to Mars, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has said. Speaking at the UK Liberal Democrat spring conference, Rennie said now is not the moment for the “long, divisive, argumentative, exhausting, all-consuming event” of another referendum on the issue. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has […]

Readers have their say on Douglas Alexander's recent column in The New European

The SNP has requested to get indyref2 on the ballot paper at the Holyrood election in May. According to The Herald, Nicola Sturgeon’s party requested to have “Vote SNP for indyref2” and “Both votes SNP for indyref2” included on the ballot paper. The party also lodged a request to register “Nicola Sturgeon for SNP First Minister” […]

Scottish secretary Alister Jack has hailed the vaccination programme against the virus as being a success for the UK. The minister claimed Scotland would still be in the “vice-like grip” of coronavirus if it had followed SNP advice on vaccinations. He insisted: “Had we followed the SNP’s advice on vaccines and waited for the flat-footed […]

Independence for Scotland would represent a reckless ‘hold my beer’ response to Brexit. By DOUGLAS ALEXANDER. I’m Scottish, British and European. I’m comfortable with layered identities, with pluralism, and I believe deeply in international cooperation. In a previous life I was the UK’s Europe minister so I’ve seen the EU from the inside. It isn’t perfect, but I continue […]

Support for Scottish independence has taken a hit after a poll suggested a lead for the ‘no’ side following the Alex Salmond inquiry. The survey by Savanta ComRes is the first to take place after the evidence given to the Scottish parliament inquiry by Nicola Sturgeon and Salmond over the government’s handling of sexual harassment […]

What impact will the SNP’s extraordinary internecine battle have on the prospects for Scottish independence? He wouldn’t… would he? Would Alex Salmond, smarting and furious at what he sees as a top-level plot not only to damage his reputation but to have him thrown in jail, really try to bring down his successor, and risk […]

SNP plans for Scottish independence would be a “Brexit 2.0” that would harm the NHS and cost jobs, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has insisted. With Scottish parliament elections due to take place in May, the Lib Dem said voters were now “weeks from an election that could determine the fate of the United […]

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has claimed that his party is a “better” choice for voters in Scotland than either Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP or Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. With the Scottish parliament election due to take place in May, Sir Ed is making his pitch to voters north of the border in a speech to the Scottish […]

A Scottish independence referendum could take place “as early as late 2021”, according to Ian Blackford. The SNP Westminster leader said, however, that the first priority of the Scottish government is tackling the Covid crisis. Blackford explained the “key” would be putting in place circumstances that would allow for an independence vote to be held. […]

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed that the SNP’s ‘little local difficulties’ is a clear reason not to hold a fresh independence poll in Scotland. The leader of the Commons claimed it would be “reckless” to hold another vote as the UK seeks to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic too. Speaking in the Commons, SNP […]

Boris Johnson has branded Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a second Scottish independence referendum as “irrelevant”. Johnson said the Covid crisis was a reason to keep the UK together and pointed to the vaccine rollout as an example of the four nations working together. Sturgeon has hinted at holding a second vote early next year if […]

Boris Johnson has launched a new union strategy committee which has been described as a “step up” from the government’s union unit that it replaces. The committee was set up after Oliver Lewis left his position as the head of Downing Street’s Union unit last week. Lewis, a veteran of the Vote Leave campaign, had been […]

Independence supporters have ridiculed a flyer produced by the Scottish Tories warning an SNP majority at this year’s Holyrood elections would lead to a second referendum to separate from the United Kingdom. The leaflet, sent to household across Scotland, appears to suggest Boris Johnson would not prevent the referendum. It says: “The SNP will hold another […]

A former Danish minister has given her support to an independent Scotland rejoining the EU. Lykke Friis, climate, energy, and gender equality minister between 2009 and 2011 and now head of thinktank EUROPA, also advised Scotland to formulate strong alliances with other northern European countries, including Scandinavian and Baltic countries. She suggested Scotland join the […]

The Scottish government will publish legislation setting out the timetable and question of a potential second Scottish independence referendum within weeks, Scotland’s constitution secretary has confirmed. The draft Bill – promised in the legislative programme first minister Nicola Sturgeon set out last year – is due to be published before the Scottish parliament enters recess […]

There’s scepticism from readers that the next leader of Scottish Labour can save the Union. The answer to Maurice Smith’s question, in my opinion, is that the Scottish Labour leadership candidate Anas Sarwar will not. The problem lies in the way the question is understood and answered by so many of your contributors. They seem […]

A Brexiteer official will take over the duty of advising Boris Johnson on the state of the union after his former aide quit. Oliver Lewis will take over a “beefed-up union unit” which advises Johnson on ways to counter calls for Scottish independence after Luke Graham quit following a furious dispute with Downing Street, the FT […]

Independence would hit the Scottish economy harder than Brexit, and rejoining the EU would make little difference, a team of academics has said. The economic damage from leaving both unions would be the equivalent of an income loss of between £2,000 and £2,800 per person, according to an analysis of trade by the London School […]

Nicola Sturgeon could seek a second referendum on Scottish independence by Christmas, an SNP minister has signalled. Scots could soon be heading to the polls to decide whether their nation should formally break free from Westminster, the SNP’s constitution minister has suggested. Michael Russell, an architect of the SNP’s road map to independence, said the vote could be held […]

A clip of Boris Johnson laying out the case for the union has backfired spectacularly after Twitter users pointed out the ‘hypocrisy’ of his argument.  Johnson toured a vaccine facility in Scotland on Thursday where he said he “believed in the power of doing things together”.  The prime minister’s comment comes as he toured the […]

James O’Brien has warned the debate surrounding Scottish independence risked turning the UK “upside down again”. The LBC presenter’s comment comes as Boris Johnson visited Scotland on Thursday in a bid to “shore up” the union. Johnson defied advice from Scotland’s first minister that visiting the country would amount to breaking lockdown rules and that he should […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has claimed that Boris Johnson is a ‘huge asset’ to Scotland. Gove was interviewed by BBC Breakfast after they pointed out that a rise in support for Scottish independence was down to Johnson’s Brexit project and his handling of the pandemic. Asked if he thought he was an “asset” or […]