Nicola Sturgeon RULES OUT independence referendum this year
NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of making an “empty gesture” after ruling out another independence referendum this year.
The First Minister said “there is not going to be” a rerun of the 2014 vote in the next 12 months.
But she again insisted the threat of breaking up Britain “has to be on the table” during talks on quitting the EU to prevent Scotland being “driven off a hard Brexit cliff edge”.
In a television interview she also argued it was “an absolute essential requirement” that the country remain in the bloc’s single market.
But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson branded her remarks an “empty gesture” because she refused to rule out another vote after 2017.
Earlier, Ms Davidson hit out at the SNP for “using Brexit to desperately try and whip up extra support” for separation.
She accused Ms Sturgeon of trying to “exacerbate” differences between the UK and Scottish Governments over leaving the EU.
The clashes come after the SNP chief warned at the weekend she was “not bluffing” about the threat of another referendum if Theresa May does not secure a soft Brexit.
Davidson: Sturgeon failed to gain support for Independence
Last week she signalled she would shelve ballot plans in a bid to “compromise” with the Prime Minister.
There is not going to be an independence referendum in 2017
Ruling out a snap poll Ms Sturgeon told broadcaster STV: “Not this year but I have made [it] very clear there is an absolute essential requirement for Scotland to remain in the single market because it matters to jobs and investment and livelihoods and living standards across the country.
Pressed again on the issue she replied: “There is not going to be an independence referendum in 2017, I don’t think there is anybody who thinks that is the case.”
But the First Minister said a referendum “has to be on the table to make sure Scotland is not driven off a hard Brexit cliff edge”.
The Scottish Government has published proposals for a Norway-style deal to allow the country to remain in the single market even if the rest of the UK leaves.
Her administration has also published a draft referendum Bill, with a public consultation closing on Wednesday.
But the Scottish Government needs to strike an agreement with London, as it did in 2014, to put the question to voters again.
Such a process could take several months even if the UK Government was willing to do deal.
Ms Davidson said: “This is an empty gesture from a First Minister who is leaving Scotland in limbo.
“If she’s serious about allowing Scotland to move on from constitutional navel-gazing, she should ditch her draft referendum Bill immediately.”
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Alex Rowley said: “While it is welcome that Nicola Sturgeon has ruled out another independence referendum in 2017, this doesn’t come close to ending the uncertainty.
“The First Minister should rule out forcing another independence referendum on the people of Scotland altogether, not just for the next twelve months.”
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “This is a statement of the blindingly obvious.
“Of course there was not going to be an independence referendum this year. It took years to prepare for the last one. What we need from this First Minister is a commitment to rule it out altogether.”
Earlier Ms Davidson told BBC Radio Scotland she still wanted the UK to have the “largest amount of access” to the single market.
The Tory leader said the SNP had “spent the last six months using Brexit to desperately try and whip up extra support for independence” and also poured scorn on Ms Sturgeon’s claim that she was offering a “massive compromise”.
She added: “They’re trying to exacerbate any differences between the UK Government position and the SNP position but, actually, I just don’t think that there is a huge amount there when both the UK Government and the Scottish Government are saying they want the whole UK and Scotland as part of the UK to have the best trading deals around the world, including within the EU single market.”