Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what contingency plans his Department has prepared for the possibility of a further referendum on Scottish independence being the policy of the Scottish Government after the Scottish Parliament election in 2016.

Given the clear and repeated commitments of leading Yes campaigners, not least the First Minister herself, during the independence referendum campaign that the vote was a ‘once in a generation’ or ‘once in a lifetime’ event, and given that a clear majority of Scots voted No in that referendum, my Department has not prepared contingency plans for the possibility of a further referendum being the policy of the Scottish Government after the Scottish Parliament election in 2016.