DAVID CAMERON has for the first time warned Alex Salmond that Westminster might stage its own referendum on Scottish independence to pre-empt the one planned by the Scottish Government.
The Prime Minister’s remarkable warning was last night dismissed as “sabre-rattling” by the First Minister but comes as Conservative and Labour politicians express concerns that he cannot be allowed to use most of the parliament to campaign for independence.
One theory is that Mr Salmond will use 2014 to “soften up” Scottish sentiment given it is the Year of Homecoming, the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn and when the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup take place in Scotland.
He will then hope the 2015 General Election will return a majority Conservative Government, with no Scottish Tory MPs or one, as at present, leaving a defeated Labour in disarray. And in the aftermath – in the summer or autumn of that year – he would hold the referendum on Scottish independence.
Last month, Mr Cameron was asked by The Herald if he would consider the option of Westminster bringing forward its own referendum.
David Cameron would do better to focus on the crisis at the top of his own government rather than sabre rattle
The PM made clear he would “not play games over independence”, warning Mr Salmond that he would not stand by and allow the FM to use his office to campaign for separation.
“What I worry about,” he told reporters, “is the Government of Scotland is going to be too much about how to bring about the right circumstances for his [Mr Salmond’s] referendum and whether he wants two questions or four questions or six questions or whatever, rather than actually trying to do the right thing by the people of Scotland.”
But in an interview with The Spectator magazine, while Mr Cameron reaffirms the Coalition’s “respect agenda” towards the SNP Government, he goes further and indicates that his patience might be time-limited.
“I want to treat the First Minister and his Government with respect, it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “But if the whole of the next few years becomes about tussling rather than governing, then there may be a moment where we have to say, OK, we need to answer this question properly. But I don’t think we’re there at the moment.”
His reference to “answering the question properly” is a thinly-veiled threat about Westminster holding a referendum should Mr Salmond drag things out.
A Westminster poll would also mean the Commons setting the question. Most Unionist MPs want a simple yes or no to the independence question and do not want, what the First Minister has hinted at – a second question on more powers for Holyrood.
The prospect of Westminster pre-empting Holyrood would be a huge gamble as the SNP’s charge would be that London is once again dictating to Scotland.
Only this month, an attempt by Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg to change the Scotland Bill to force a snap independence poll failed.
Last night, the FM gave the Prime Minister short shrift. His spokesman said: “David Cameron would do better to focus on the crisis at the top of his own government rather than sabre rattle about interfering in the affairs of Scotland’s Government.
“The people of Scotland have spoken and given a powerful mandate for the policy detailed by the SNP in the election – the right to choose independence on the basis of one referendum, agreed by the Scottish Parliament, towards the end of this Holyrood term.
“David Cameron should be focused on delivering the additional job-creating powers in the Scotland Bill that the SNP also set out in the election and secured the strongest possible mandate for – which is a key test of his ‘respect agenda’ for Scotland.”
Meanwhile, Sir John Major, a onetime bitter opponent of Scottish devolution, has come out in support of a federalist vision for Scotland, supporting what is often called “devolution max”.
He said: “Why not devolve all responsibilities except foreign policy, defence and management of the economy? Why not let Scotland have wider tax-raising powers to pay for their policies and, in return, abolish the present block grant settlement?”
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