The SNP’s new leader at Westminster has described the prospect of a new vote on Scottish independence as an “insurance policy”.
Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Ian Blackford said he will be speak to Nicola Sturgeon as she decides how to move forward on earlier plans to hold a second referendum.
He added that with the party seeking to “protect Scotland’s position”, a new vote could be used as a parachute against a “hard Tory Brexit”.
However, opposition parties have called on the First Minister to scrap the issue following a disappointing General Election for the SNP, where they lost a total of 21 seats.
The issue of independence has been painted as a major contributing factor in the performance amid reports Ms Sturgeon could look to ‘rebrand’ the referendum issue as Brexit talks conclude.
Speaking on STV News last night, Mr Blackford said: “We always said that we wanted to compromise, that we wanted to protect Scotland’s position.
“Any independence referendum – if it were to happen – is an insurance policy on the future of Scotland being impacted by a hard Tory Brexit that damages our interests.”
Ms Sturgeon has said she will “reflect” on the issue but will not allow herself to be “dictated to” by the Scottish media.
In a series of Tweets on Wednesday morning, Sturgeon said: “Most of the media speculation about #ScotRef is nonsense. I’ll set out the way forward in due course after talking to people across @theSNP.
“I’ll take decisions in [the] best interests, not just of @theSNP but of Scotland…and not be dictated to by demands for quick headlines!
“In meantime, @ScotGov will focus on trying to influence Brexit talks- a Tory led Brexit is simply not acceptable post #GE2017.”
