TORY leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom has refused to rule out granting Holyrood the powers to hold indyref2 if she became prime minister.
At a lunch event with journalists, Leadsom was asked whether, as prime minister, she would accept a Scottish request for Section 30 powers to hold a second referendum.
The Tory MP answered: "All of these things would be up for negotiation. I do believe in sovereignty.
"I don’t think most people in Scotland would want that to happen but I would never say never."
Asked under what circumstances she would back the vote, Leadsom added: “I do not think there should be another independence referendum in Scotland.
“On the other hand I am a big believer in devolution and so I am not going to stand here and utterly rule it out because I think that is disrespectful, but I would very strongly fight against a second referendum.”
A spokesperson for Leadsom told The National last week that she would "not be seeking to hold a second independence referendum".
The UK Government's current position is that it would refuse any request for the powers to hold a new vote.
It comes after leadership rival Sajid Javid was widely criticised for saying he would reject any attempt by the Scottish Government seeking powers to hold a referendum.
READ MORE: Sajid Javid mocked for saying he wouldn't 'allow' referendum
Social media users mocked Javid with the "PermissionFromSajid" hashtag.
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