By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 27 February 2012
Anger has erupted over the timing of the Scottish independence referendum after a likely date was apparently leaked over the weekend.
The row follows a report in the new Sunday Sun that the referendum date will be on October 18 2014.
But a Scottish Government spokesman would only say that the date was a ‘possibility’ as details were currently out to consultation.
Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont attacked the long lead-in to the poll, particularly given last week’s warning by energy supplier Scottish & Southern that constitutional uncertainty was hampering investment plans.
Her Tory counterpart, Ruth Davidson, claimed: ‘The Scottish National Party has still to put forward any good reason as to why the Scottish people have to wait nearly three years to make this decision.’
Opposition politicians are upset that there should be an apparent leak while the Scottish Government is consulting on its referendum plans, and that the putative date, a Saturday, would fall during school holidays.
It is 13 months after the September 2013 date floated by Scottish Secretary Michael Moore – who is also consulting on the issue. There are claims that the later date would allow Scots to vote to leave the UK, then promptly go on to help determine a UK general election outcome, since it would take time to disengage the two Parliaments.
The Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are in the process of a consultation on the independence referendum– which has already generated more than 2,500 responses.
‘Once we have completed that process and listened to people’s views we will take forward our plans for a referendum in autumn 2014.’
Meanwhile, a cross-party campaign will be launched tomorrow to push for the constitutional formula known as ‘devo-plus’. This would allow Scotland to raise most taxes in order to fund devolved services while Westminster would retain VAT and National Insurance to pay for matters that remained reserved.
Devo-plus differs from the better known ‘devo-max’ under which Scotland would raise all taxes, then pay back a portion to London for shared functions. It has been promoted by the Reform Scotland think-tank, headed by financier Ben Thomson, but has previously lacked conspicuous political backing.
The new campaign is expected to be fronted by Jeremy Purvis, who was the Liberal Democrats’ shadow finance secretary before losing his Holyrood seat last year.
Scottish independence is also on Westminster’s agenda this afternoon. The Commons Scottish affairs select committee is visiting Edinburgh to take evidence from lawyers and academics about the legalities of the referendum. The SNP is boycotting its inquiry.
