Sovereignty: Scotland

(asked on 17th July 2015) - View Source

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on a further referendum on Scottish independence of the Scottish Parliament election in 2016 delivering a majority for political parties committed to the holding of such a referendum.


Answered by
David Mundell Portrait
David Mundell
This question was answered on 24th July 2015

Throughout the independence referendum leading members of the Yes campaign repeatedly asserted that it would be a ‘once in a generation’ or a ‘once in a lifetime’ event. For example, in September 2013, Nicola Sturgeon described the independence referendum on BBC television as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity for Scotland’ and in November 2013, the Scottish Government’s white paper, Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland, which was produced at taxpayers’ expense and made freely available to anyone in Scotland, called the referendum ‘a once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path’. In the context of these and other assurances, and following extensive debate, in September 2014 people in Scotland voted decisively, by a majority of over ten per cent, to reject independence and to keep our family of nations together. We await with interest the publication of the parties’ election manifestos.

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