A former SNP deputy leader and pro-independence heavyweight attacks the Yes campaign's incoherence, striking "a hammer blow to Alex Salmond".
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With Alex Salmond having made clear his desire to see a second question on “devo-plus” included on the ballot paper when Scots vote on whether to become an independent nation, further divisions emerged over the weekend with an attack on the Yes to Independence campaign from a former SNP deputy leader.
Speaking to Scotland on Sunday, Margo MacDonald, now an independent MSP, argued that the idea of a second option featuring on the ballot paper should be dropped altogether, as it would need the approval of English as well as Scottish voters and politicians.
She said:
“Ditch the second question, because you can’t deliver it. The only thing you can deliver is independence.”
Amidst criticism from the pro-union camp that Yes to Independence remains vague on an independent Scotland would look like, MacDonald took a broader swipe at the campaign as a whole:
“It’s got no shape, no boundaries, no premise. In short, I don’t think we’ve had a debate, I think we have had a lot of noise.
We should have already had the information stage. We should be at the stage now of arguing what is the best way. But we don’t have an agreed premise.”
Her comments come just weeks after Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Green Party’s co-convenor, took a swipe at the Yes to Independence campaign, arguing that it had effectively been hijacked by Alex Salmond and the SNP.
Scottish Labour’s external affairs spokesperson, Patricia Ferguson, said of MacDonald’s intervention that:
“Margo is well-respected in Nationalist circles and her intervention will come as a hammer-blow to Alex Salmond’s approach. There is now growing consensus that there should be one, straightforward question. In that sense, Margo is merely agreeing with the SNP deputy leader, the chair of the independence campaign, and its director.”
Meanwhile, following last week’s revelations from Scottish Labour that SNP ministers and officials have not had a single discussion about the consequences of independence with any of the UK’s ten major government departments, the Herald reported this weekend that Whitehall – concerned that the SNP administration is dragging its heels on the issue – is considering taking control of the referendum.
• Salmond must stop moving the goalposts on Scottish independence referendum 4 July 2012
• Do the SNP see England as a foreign country already? 2 July 2012
• The Scottish press’s verdict of the launch of the “Better Together” campaign 26 June 2012
• Darling launches campaign for the Union: ‘Better Together, united not divided’ 25 June 2012
• Salmond’s independence campaign lurches from one problem to another 19 June 2012
The paper quotes what it describes as a “senior coalition source” as saying that “this is a scenario he [David Cameron] may have to face.” A second source told the Herald that “Salmond is dragging his feet and it seems to us pretty clear why. It may well be the PM might have no choice but to make the decision himself.”
Commenting on the possibility, the Herald’s Martin Settle and Kate Devlin observe:
“Such a move would be fraught with political danger as it would leave Mr Cameron open to accusations from Nationalists that he is trying to hijack the process they feel is Holyrood’s preserve.
Ideally, the PM would not want to go down such a difficult path, but Whitehall sources have made it clear that, having come so far, Mr Cameron feels the people of Scotland deserve a “fair, legal and decisive” vote and that if only Westminster can facilitate it, then so be it.”
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28 Responses to “As Yes to Independence campaign splits (again), Cameron considers taking control of Scottish referendum”
TristanPriceWilliams
BTW…it should be remembered, firstly, that Margo is a bitter against Alex, because her husband fell out with him many years ago and backed Margaret Ewing for the leadership… when that campaign failed, both Margo and her husband flounced off out of the party in a huff.
Margo now sits as an independent in parliament.
Secondly, the Yes campaign is run by the yes campaign, and not by Alex, any more than Cameron is running the Tethered Together campaign.
The next point I’d make is that if David Cameron is getting himself involved because some bitter woman is having a go, I have to say he has learned little about statesmanship in the last two years when he is supposed to have been practising it. I realise he will never have heard of Jim Sillars or Margo MacDonald…a bit parochial for him, but he should read up on it before he gets involved.
The SNP wants full independence; always has, always will. There are people within it, I suppose that don’t, but the vast majority do.
However, the government has run a Consultation with the Scottish people and we await the outcome of that.
All opinion polls in Scotland have shown that more people want Devo Max, than want independence, status quo, or direct rule from England. It is possible, even probable, that the consultation will, therefore, also show that that is what the Scots want.
Mr Cameron is very welcome to come and ride roughshod over that if that is what he, in his infinite wisdom, deems to be the best course of action. As your ex-ex-leader in the Scottish parliament once said… “Bring it on”
Frankly Francophone
No decision has yet been taken by the Scottish Government on the form which the constitutional referendum question or questions will take. This is a matter to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament for a decision in the course of the process of legislating for the referendum after analysis of the numerous responses to the Scottish Government’s pre-referendum consultation has been completed.
As for Margo MacDonald, she has not been a team player for a very long time and is indeed not in anybody’s team but her own, which is her prerogative. As for the NO campaign, its Darling leader is mired in a massive scandal (LIBOR) which damages his reputation and that of the UK more than somewhat, I venture to suggest:
http://tinyurl.com/bvf99b8
http://tinyurl.com/c7eprw9
As for the question of negotiating the terms of independence with the UK government, that is something which the Scottish Government would expect to do AFTER the referendum if there is shown to be a majority in favour of independence.
On the subject of ill-advised Old Etonian interventionism in Scottish affairs:
http://tinyurl.com/ch838gy
Incidentally, the referendum campaign has over two years to run. Plenty of time for allowing the opponents of Scottish independence to shoot themselves in the foot: “Messieurs les Anglais, tirez les premiers!” (Voltaire)
Clive Burgess
As Yes to Independence campaign splits (again), Cameron considers taking control of Scottish referendu http://t.co/5DCZPHtj by @EdJacobs1985
Anonymous
Really? So you think fraud is acceptable, noted.
Howard Price
Do it David, you can’t lose.
The jockos are just dying for you to ask them.
Think of the legacy.