First Minister Humza Yousaf and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn have backed a party motion that lays out new Scottish independence plans.
The motion states that:
“If the SNP subsequently wins the most seats at the general election in Scotland, the Scottish Government is empowered to begin immediate negotiations with the UK Government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country”.
This means that if the party even has one more seat than the next largest party, this would be seen as a mandate for new negotiations with Downing Street.
Talks would be held on devolving power to Scotland and setting a new referendum date.
Plans are in place for the SNP to publish conditions for its negotiations with Westminster, consisting of a draft legal text on the transfer of powers between the United Kingdom and Scotland.
The party would also start working on a draft constitution and plans to re-enter the European Union.
Read More: Humza Yousaf appointed SNP leader, to be Scotland’s next First Minister: Humza Yousaf sets out new Scottish independence plansThe SNP also propose to make the first line of their manifesto “Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country”.
The motion builds on former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s suggestion of using the general election as a “de-facto referendum” on independence.
Sturgeon’s proposal meant that if the SNP won the majority of votes, this would be an endorsement by the Scottish people for new independence talks.
Last year however, the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish parliament does not have permission to hold an independence referendum without the consent of Westminster.
Yousaf has changed Sturgeon’s proposal, from winning the majority of votes to winning most of the seats.
Currently, the SNP holds 44 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons.
Scotland has been assigned 57 seats in the UK parliament for the next elections, which are planned to be held in 2024.
This means that the SNP could lose at least 15 seats in the coming elections and still go ahead with new independence talks with Downing Street.
Successive Conservative prime ministers have declined Scottish appeals for a new referendum since the last vote, which was held in 2014.
This motion will be debated and formally voted on at SNP’s conference in Aberdeen next month.
“Building a New Scotland: citizenship in an independent Scotland” by Scottish Government is licensed under CC BY 2.0.