The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cameron ‘won’t block’ another referendum
TORIES: Davidson says precedent has been set
David Cameron would not block another independence referendum if the SNP secure a mandate for re-run in its next Holyrood manifesto, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has said.
The Conservatives “have always believed in self-determination” and the Edinburgh Agreement, which delivered Westminster’s consent for the 2014 poll, set an “absolute precedent” for future polls, Ms Davidson said.
The Scottish Conservative leader said she has discussed the Conservative approach to another referendum “at length” with Mr Cameron, if voters return him to Westminster and return Nicola Sturgeon to Holyrood.
Earlier this month, Mr Cameron told Westminster journal The House that the independence question was “settled for a generation”.
Asked what his position would be if the SNP win the Holyrood elections with a manifesto commitment to a second referendum, Mr Cameron replied: “That issue is settled.”
At the launch of the Tories’ party election broadcast in Edinburgh yesterday, Ms Davidson said: “David and I, the Prime Minister and I, have spoken about this at length, most recently when we were launching our manifesto in Glasgow.
“There is an absolute precedent that has been set down and I do not deviate from that precedent.”
When asked if she would advise David Cameron to block another referendum, she said: “Absolutely not.
“We have and have always believed in self determination and democracy, and we have just had the largest democratic event in the history of our country — 85% turnout which has never been seen not just in Scotland, but in any democratic event anywhere in the United Kingdom.
"We voted to stay part of the UK and we were told that that would be it for a generation.
“The best way to stop a second referendum is to make sure that you vote for parties other than the SNP in the Scottish Parliament next year in 2016.”