ANY pro-independence majority at the Holyrood election is “very clearly” enough to secure a mandate for a second referendum, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Scottish Conservative conference at the weekend that the party can “stop an SNP majority” and prevent another vote.
But Mr Harvie insisted a majority made up of Green and SNP MSPs – such as currently exists – would be enough to push for another referendum.
READ MORE: Scottish Greens kick off Holyrood election campaign
He told The Herald: “Anyone who believes in democracy needs to respect a majority in the Scottish Parliament if, for a third time in a row, we elect a pro-independence parliament.”
He was speaking as the Greens launched their Holyrood election campaign on Calton Hill in Edinburgh with the slogan: “Vote like our future depends on it.”
The Greens took six seats at the last election and their support has helped the minority SNP Government win key votes at Holyrood.
Asked if the Greens and SNP should have common wording in their manifestos around a second referendum, to minimise ambiguity, Mr Harvie said: “I think it’s very clear that the Greens as well as other parties, including the SNP, do believe that it should be for the next Scottish Parliament, if there’s a pro-independence majority, to set the timescale.
“And anyone who’s a democrat I think really does need to respect that.
“So I don’t think it needs to get more complicated than that. It’s a very clear, very straightforward principle.”
Mr Harvie said opinion polling shows people “don’t necessarily want this question put to them in a referendum in the middle of a pandemic”.
But he said that as Scotland exits lockdown in the next few months, “I think people will be ready to look at those choices, those big choices for the future about the kind of country we want to be”.
He said the Greens are clear that independence “is not just an end in itself”.
He added: “It’s actually about saying, how can we make Scotland a better place?
“How can Scotland taking its place in the wider world help to make the world a better place?”
Asked if anything less than an SNP majority would allow Mr Johnson to refuse a second referendum, Mr Harvie said: “I don’t think should worry too much about whether Boris Johnson is going to have a principled position on this.
"I don’t expect him to have a principled position regardless of what the election result is.
READ MORE: Greens blame 'very minor' error after being fined £200 by Electoral Commission
“But what we need to celebrate and assert is that Scotland does have the ability now – has done for 20 years – to have its will expressed in its own parliament.
“This will be the third election in a row, I’m very confident, where Scotland chooses a pro-independence parliament. Greens will be part of that.
“But it’s not an end in itself.”
Mr Johnson told the Scottish Tory virtual conference on Sunday: "Friends, you are the only party that can stop an SNP majority and their drive towards a second independence referendum."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel