Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Opposition leaders brand Scots referendum plans “irresponsible”

Ruth Davidson
Ruth Davidson

Opposition leaders in Holyrood have branded Nicola Sturgeon’s referendum demand “irresponsible” and “divisive”.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the first minister has decided to “double down on division and uncertainty” by putting Scotland through another secession campaign.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said another referendum will damage the economy and segregate society further.

Ms Sturgeon said she will seek Holyrood’s approval for a section 30 order, which would enable Scotland to hold indyref2 if approved by Westminster. The Scottish Greens say they will vote for the order, which gives the first minister the pro-independence majority in the parliament she needs.

Ms Davidson said: “The first minister’s proposal offers Scotland the worst of all worlds.

“Her timetable would force people to vote blind on the biggest political decision a country could face.

“This is utterly irresponsible and has been taken by the first minister purely for partisan political reasons.”

Ms Dugdale added: “Scotland is already divided enough. We do not want to be divided again, but that is exactly what another independence referendum would do.”

Mr Rennie said: “There is no wide public support for a new and divisive referendum.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats stood on a manifesto to oppose a divisive referendum and we will do that.”

In a direct appeal to Ms Sturgeon in an interview on Sky News, Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “Politics isn’t a game, take a step back be the First Minister of Scotland not just the leader of the SNP and look at what needs to be done to get the best possible deal as we go into these unprecedented negotiations.”

UKIP’s David Coburn, one of Scotland’s six MEPs, said the prospect of a second independence referendum between the autumn 2018 and spring 2019 is “utterly preposterous”.

He added: “The UK will still be in negotiations with the EU at this time. The SNP seem to wish to cause maximum disruption, uncertainty and overall mayhem.”

Former first minister Alex Salmond said he is in “absolutely no doubt there will be a resounding vote in favour of independence”.