By Richard Johnstone | 11 January 2012
There will be a referendum on Scottish independence in the autumn of 2014, the Scottish Government has announced.
First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed the date yesterday as Scottish Secretary Michael Moore announced plans to devolve the legal powers to hold the referendum from Westminster to Holyrood.
Announcing the date, Salmond said that further information would be published later this month.
He said: ‘The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. That's because this is the biggest decision that Scotland has made for 300 years. If you are going to do things properly and have the debate in the way it must be had then that is the date that we are going to move towards.’
Salmond also called on Westminster to ‘resist the temptation to try and interfere in Scottish democracy’.
Meanwhile, the legalities of the vote were debated at Westminster.
Whether or not it is legal for the Scottish National Party government to hold a referendum on constitutional matters, an issue reserved to Westminster, has been debated since First Minister Alex Salmond won a Holyrood majority in May 2010. Salmond’s election manifesto included a pledge to hold a referendum on independence and the Scottish Government has said it believes that it can hold an advisory referendum.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Moore said that Holyrood did not have the legal power to run the referendum and that an order from Westminster was needed.
A consultation launched yesterday will seek views on how to transfer the power. Moore said he had ‘been clear that we will not stand in the way of a referendum on independence’.
He added that the preferred option was to make an order under the Scotland Act, which established the Scottish Parliament, but the consultation will also examine other possibilities. This could include Westminster holding the vote itself.
Moore refused to rule out putting a time limit on the devolved power, as was speculated upon earlier this week. This could mean the referendum would have be held sooner than Salmond’s preferred date of autumn 2014.
The draft order for consultation published yesterday includes a single referendum question and a voting age of 18, but these will also be subject to consultation.
The Scottish Government has said that it might put a second question on the ballot paper that would ask whether there was support to enhance the powers of Holyrood to fiscal autonomy, also known as ‘devolution max’
.
The consultation on the draft order runs until March 9.
There will be a referendum on Scottish independence in the autumn of 2014, the Scottish Government has announced.
First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed the date yesterday as Scottish Secretary Michael Moore announced plans to devolve the legal powers to hold the referendum from Westminster to Holyrood.
Announcing the date, Salmond said that further information would be published later this month.
He said: ‘The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. That's because this is the biggest decision that Scotland has made for 300 years. If you are going to do things properly and have the debate in the way it must be had then that is the date that we are going to move towards.’
Salmond also called on Westminster to ‘resist the temptation to try and interfere in Scottish democracy’.
Meanwhile, the legalities of the vote were debated at Westminster.
Whether or not it is legal for the Scottish National Party government to hold a referendum on constitutional matters, an issue reserved to Westminster, has been debated since First Minister Alex Salmond won a Holyrood majority in May 2010. Salmond’s election manifesto included a pledge to hold a referendum on independence and the Scottish Government has said it believes that it can hold an advisory referendum.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Moore said that Holyrood did not have the legal power to run the referendum and that an order from Westminster was needed.
A consultation launched yesterday will seek views on how to transfer the power. Moore said he had ‘been clear that we will not stand in the way of a referendum on independence’.
He added that the preferred option was to make an order under the Scotland Act, which established the Scottish Parliament, but the consultation will also examine other possibilities. This could include Westminster holding the vote itself.
Moore refused to rule out putting a time limit on the devolved power, as was speculated upon earlier this week. This could mean the referendum would have be held sooner than Salmond’s preferred date of autumn 2014.
The draft order for consultation published yesterday includes a single referendum question and a voting age of 18, but these will also be subject to consultation.
The Scottish Government has said that it might put a second question on the ballot paper that would ask whether there was support to enhance the powers of Holyrood to fiscal autonomy, also known as ‘devolution max’
.
The consultation on the draft order runs until March 9.
