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.

SNP urged to scrap monarchy in event of yes vote

The Queen and her family spend a lot of time at Balmoral Castle on Royal Deeside.
The Queen and her family spend a lot of time at Balmoral Castle on Royal Deeside.

Anti-monarchists have said the Queen should be dropped as head of state if Scotland votes for independence.

Campaign group Republic said it would be “absurd” if the country declared freedom from the UK on “one bended-knee” so a sovereign living in another country’s capital.

It wants the Queen replaced with an elected, democratic head of state who would be publicly accountable for using taxpayers’ money.

Republic chief executive, Graham Smith, said: “The monarchy is wrong for Britain, it will be wrong for a newly-independent nation.”

The Scottish Government’s official position is the country would be a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as head of state in the event of independence in 2016.

But ministers say they recognise that some people have legitimate differences of opinion on the future status of the monarchy.

The SNP government’s white paper on independence says: “Those who hold them will make their case to the people of Scotland on these points and others in the 2016 elections and subsequently.

“It will be up to the people of Scotland to decide the approach that best suits our nation as we move forward.”

Republic, which says it is not taking a position on the referendum, is holding a conference – titled Yes or No, the monarchy Must Go – in Edinburgh tomorrow.

SNP executive member Duncan Ross, a Glasgow University academic, is among the speakers.

North-east Conservative MSP Nanette Milne said: “People will be concerned that a Yes vote could threaten the future of the monarchy in Scotland and the strong ties which have helped to build co-operation and peace across our nations for hundreds of years.

“The royal family are highly regarded in Scotland, with polling showing that a constant 80% of the public want to retain the Queen as head of state.”

The Rev Iver Martin, minister of Stornoway Free Church, said: “To lose the monarchy would be a massive societal loss for the people of Scotland.”

But Mr Smith said: “If Scotland votes Yes in September it would be absurd to claim independence on one bended-knee to a monarch living in another country’s capital.

“A nation is not sovereign while it has its head of state chosen by genetic lottery in another country.”

The Church of Scotland thinks monarchs should have a Scottish coronation if the country votes for independence.