The Scottish Government is preparing to abandon its flagship policy of holding a referendum on independence before next year’s elections.
The SNP administration has confirmed it is now likely to make the issue the key focus of May’s Holyrood election campaign, rather than risk its defeat in a parliament vote.
Opposition leaders said Alex Salmond was “running scared” after the announcement yesterday.
Last week, the administrat-ion was battling to save another key policy as its plans for minimum alcohol pricing came under fire from the drinks industry and the opposition. The SNP pledged during the 2007 election campaign to hold an independence referendum, with a preferred date of St Andrew’s Day, November 30, this year.
But a Salmond spokesman said yesterday: “We are discussing our strategy to make the referendum the transcending issue of the election to demonstrate that financial independence is the only alternative to a decade or more of Westminster-dictated cuts. It is clear that we will now have to appeal over the heads of the Unionist MSPs to the people of Scotland next May.
“Tactically, we are deciding whether to introduce a bill to allow the Unionist parties to vote it down, or to publish the bill and concentrate on canvassing public support. A new, re-elected SNP government will be in a powerful position to secure passage of the referendum, having successfully mobilised the people over the blocking tactics of the Unionist parties.”
The fate of the bill is due to be discussed at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.
Aberdeen Central Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said the policy had gone from being the SNP’s flagship to a “white flag”. “This was supposed to be at the centre of their legislative programme and has been completely abandoned without a fight,” he said. “It’s dead in the water. It’s a reprehensible waste of public money at a time when we all know the difficult circumstances of public spending and public services.”
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles described the policy as a “charade”. He said: “This has cost £2million so far on what is really a vanity project for the first minister.
“The Scottish people don’t want a break-up of the UK.”
North East Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone added: “I think the SNP realise that their long-held goal of achieving Scottish independence is not only unobtainable but also bad for Scotland.”
Labour leader Iain Gray described the move as a “humiliating climbdown” for Mr Salmond.
“It is the ultimate vanity project to waste millions, publishing a bill on a referendum nobody wants and not even bring it to parliament,” he said.
Tory leader Annabel Goldie said: “Alex Salmond has squandered millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money chasing a minority aspiration of his minority party. Now he is running scared.”
A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said: “We welcome the SNP fighting next year’s election solely on the grounds of independence.
“Alex Salmond has said that he is now going to do this and this is very welcome territory for us.”
In February, Mr Salmond published details of the two-question referendum – which would cost about £9.5million – in a draft bill.
The first question would ask voters if they backed increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
The second would ask if people agreed that “the parliament’s powers should also be extended to enable independence to be achieved”.
The proposed bill has been opposed by the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour at Holyrood, who have the votes to reject the measure.