The majority of Scots want a second independence referendum if the country's pro-independence parties achieve a majority in next year's elections to the Scottish Parliament, according to a new poll reported by Scotland's The National newspaper.
According to the survey, 54% of Scots would interpret a majority in the Holyrood chamber as a mandate for a second referendum, while only 30% said they disagreed with that idea. Moreover, the same poll found that the combined support for the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Greens would provide such a parliamentary majority, and that a 'yes' vote would be likely to win a second Indyref, again with 54% support, according to the poll.
The survey result comes as the UK's secretary of state for Scotland, Alister Jack, flatly rejected the possibility of a new independence referendum. Conservative Party politician Jack alleged that the result of the 2014 referendum was a "no for a generation," which he suggested might comprise between "25 and 40 years - certainly not 10 years". "I don't think we should continue to hold referendums until they get their way, they should respect the result we have," he insisted.
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) responded to this in a tweet referring to the result of the US presidential election: "As we are seeing across the Atlantic right now, politicians who rage against democracy do not prevail".
As we’re seeing across the Atlantic just now, politicians who rage against democracy don’t prevail. Let’s not dignify this rubbish. Instead let’s keep making and winning the case for independence. Power doesn’t belong to politicians - it belongs to the people. #indyref2 https://t.co/roCXLAEBYj
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) November 6, 2020
This year, Sturgeon delayed plans for a referendum due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, she herself has said her administration will publish a draft referendum bill before the end of its current term, in March 2021. Since the Scottish independence movement lost in the 2014 referendum, a growing number of polls have measured support for independence at over 50%, especially in the wake of Brexit.
In fact, the number two of the SNP, Keith Brown, has spoken out in this regard, saying "a clear majority of voters believe that Scotland should have the right to choose its own future". "We did not vote for this Tory Brexit nor did we vote for Boris Johnson. They do not have the right to decide the future of Scotland for us," he added.
At the last election in 2016, the two largest pro-independence parties, Sturgeon's Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens, won 69 seats in the 129-seat Holyrood parliament, with the SNP gaining 63 members and the Greens, six.