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.

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.