Humza Yousaf, the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Justice Secretary, has said he believes an independence referendum should be held “tomorrow” as he shifted his preferred strategy for obtaining one. Yousaf said a majority number of seats, at least 29, in a general election would be needed to justify negotiations for a referendum, as opposed to his prior strategy which proposed that the SNP winning the most seats would be enough of a mandate. He made these comments in the lead-up to the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen where the party was expected to debate and vote on its independence strategy, facing significant pressure to alter their plan.
During an interview with the BBC, Yousaf stated that “mandate after mandate” for independence referendums had been denied by Conservative governments and that the next test of the proposition will be in the expected general election next year. However, polls indicate that support for independence has been at approximately 48% since the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish government would require the UK government’s consent to hold another independence referendum. If the SNP wins the majority seats, they would be justified in beginning negotiations with the UK government about how to enact its mandate “democratically”, Yousaf said.
Yousaf had previously espoused a desire to build “sustained” support for independence, which he defined as a minimum of 50% backing a Yes vote. Despite this goal, he believes that a referendum should be held as Scotland has demanded one. While the move has been backed by SNP Westminster Leader, Stephen Flynn, SNP MP Joanna Cherry has expressed support for a constitutional convention to guide independence negotiations instead of a general election mandate. Cherry has proposed that talks should be conducted by a convention consisting of Scottish MPs, MSPs, and “representatives of civic Scotland”.
The SNP’s annual conference follows a period of internal upheaval as the party has dealt with criticisms over drug death rates, NHS issues, and education, as well as several prominent resignations and defections. A police investigation into the party’s leadership team for alleged financial misconduct also looms. Despite these challenges, Yousaf has maintained that there are no shortcuts to constitutional change and that the party will persist in pushing for independence
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