The Scottish National Party (SNP) has abandoned its pledge, first made three and a half years ago, to hold a referendum on Scottish independence later this year. According to the party, the move is necessary in order to "appeal over the heads" of Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Tory leaders who are expected to vote down any move to hold a plebiscite.
An SNP spokesmen told The Scotsmen: "Tactically, we are deciding whether to introduce a bill to allow the unionist parties to vote it down or rather to publish the bill and concentrate on canvassing public support.
"A new, re-elected SNP government will be in a powerful position to secure passage of the referendum, having successfully mobilised the people over the blocking tactics of the unionist parties."
Opposition parties responded with "derision" and attacked the SNP for "squandering" larger amounts of money on the abandoned vote policy.
The most recent polls show the SNP some 10-points behind Labour in Scotland.
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Interestingly, at the recent Scottish Labour Party conference there was an increased presence of the Saltire and nationalist rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteEither, it is a reaction from Scottish Labour against the Tory government in London, or an attempt to utilise the SNP strategy of symbolic manipulations of Scotland and Scottishness. Or both.