A FOURTH SNP MP has backed demands for the party to pursue a “Plan B” route to independence should Boris Johnson refuse to give Holyrood the necessary powers to hold a referendum.
Carol Monaghan has declared her support for an amendment by MP Angus MacNeil and senior party councillor Chris McEleny, which they want to be debated at the SNP conference this autumn.
MacNeil and McEleny urge delegates to back their proposal stating if the Prime Minister refuses to grant permission for an independence referendum by October next year, then the next Holyrood or Westminster election should be fought on a manifesto that would see victory mandate the Scottish Government to open negotiations on independence.
Their original resolution was rejected by the party’s conference committee last month, who said it was too significant a development for a single conference debate, but the pair are now seeking to present it as an amendment to a motion celebrating the achievements of the Scottish Parliament.
Monaghan joins MacNeil as well as MPs Douglas Chapman and Lisa Cameron in backing the plan and instructed MacNeil to email her support to the party’s national secretary. Some 15 branches have also backed the amendment, including Anniesland, Bellshill and Uddingston, Coatbridge and Chryston, Linlithgow, Paisley Branch and Stonehaven.
READ MORE: Indyref2: SNP MP Douglas Chapman backs plan 'Plan B' amendment
MacNeil told the Sunday National of Monaghan’s support. “Carol instructed me to email the national secretary before the deadline to declare her support for the amendment.” Monaghan could not be contacted yesterday by The National.
First Minister and SNP party leader Nicola Sturgeon wants to follow the same process for the next referendum to the one held in 2014. David Cameron and Alex Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement in 2012 with the then Prime Minister granting a Section 30 order enabling the vote to take place.
During an event at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on Thursday, the FM was asked why she would not push ahead with a vote without Westminster permission. She said she wanted to ensure the vote was recognised by the UK and the international community to make sure Scotland did become independent. The First Minister also took aim at some of her critics, urging them to keep the pressure on Westminster to get the necessary transfer of powers rather than focus on an alternative route.
READ MORE: SNP branches back ‘plan B’ independence route conference discussion
“Why should I be talking about the alternatives to doing it the right way? It’s the people who are trying to block it from doing it the right way who should be under pressure,” she said. “And particularly just now when that undemocratic, unsustainable position has started to crumble. We’ve seen it from John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn, even within the Tories, we are starting to see them ‘ah well, maybe if they’ve got a majority in 20..’. So let’s just keep the pressure there. So we can have the referendum in the right way. In the gold standard way and then Scotland can become an independent country.”
MacNeil said developing an alternative route did not mean abandoning the original. “The development of a Plan B makes Plan A more likely,” he said, adding: “Whether people think it is a good or a bad idea it should be decided by the membership of the SNP and not by one or two people who think they know best.”
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