SNP rejects using next election as ‘de facto’ referendum on independence
The SNP will not use the next general election as a de facto independence referendum, in a shift away from the strategy employed by Nicola Sturgeon.
Instead, the party has used its annual conference in Aberdeen to state that, should it win a majority of Scottish seats at the general election expected next year, it should begin negotiations with Westminster on how it can go about securing Scotland’s independence.
This was described by one SNP MP as seeking the mandate to secure independence, rather than a vote for independence itself.
Some MPs supported the approach previously championed by former leader Ms Sturgeon – in which securing 50% plus one of the vote in Scotland should be treated as the Scottish people declaring themselves independent.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the 2022 party conference
Humza Yousaf, the SNP’s current leader and the first minister of Scotland, backed the switch away from his predecessor’s position.
He said using the next general election as a de facto referendum for independence is the “wrong approach” to take.
It is the first conference since Ms Sturgeon’s attempt to hold a referendum was defeated in the courts, her subsequent resignation, arrest and release, and the investigation into the party’s finances.
SNP MP Tommy Sheppard, who proposed one of the amendments which turned the party’s strategy away from a referendum, told the conference that 10% of those who support independence do not back the SNP for the next election – but also do not support other pro-independence parties.
“The truth of this is that there is 10% or more of the Scottish electorate who want Scotland to be an independent country, but it is not the main thing on their mind right now,” Mr Sheppard said.
He says the lack of support for other independence-backing outfits – like Alex Salmond’s Alba Party – shows voters are not going to support a party based on immediate independence.
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Joanna Cherry, another MP, said that she backed not using the 2024 vote as a de facto referendum, but said the option should be kept open – including at the 2026 Scottish parliament election.
One MP who wanted to use the next general election as a referendum was the MP Pete Wishart.
He said the party needed a “credible and realistic route” to independence to be presented to the country in order to leave the United Kingdom.
“It’s time to stop asking and time to start asserting,” he added.
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Mr Wishart said that every election should be treated as a de-facto referendum “and we keep on doing it – until they properly engage, or we win, which we will most definitely do”.
The conference itself has been overshadowed by the war in the Middle East – including the fact that the parents of SNP councillor Nadia El Nakla, who is also Mr Yousaf’s wife, are trapped in Gaza.
The event started with an emergency motion, which called for the condemnation of the “terrorist attacks” of Hamas and the release of all hostages.
It says “international law must be respected”, and reaffirms the party’s support for a two-state solution.
The party unanimously supported the motion.
Politics
US ambassador to Israel calls cabinet minister ‘delusional’ for claim UK played key role in Gaza peace deal
The US ambassador to Israel has called cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson “delusional” after she told Sky News the UK played a key role in the Gaza peace deal.
The education secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Sir Keir Starmer’s presence at a signing ceremony for the ceasefire deal in Egypt on Monday “demonstrates the key role that we have played”.
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She did not say exactly what the UK’s role in the ceasefire, largely attributed to Donald Trump, is or was.
But she added: “We have played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this.
“It’s right that we do so because it’s in all of our interest, including our own national interest, that we move to a lasting peace in the region.
“These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in. But we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in moving us to this point.”
However, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, reposted the Sky News clip of Ms Phillipson’s comments and said: “I assure you she’s delusional.
“She can thank Donald Trump anytime just to set the record straight.”
Mr Huckabee was part of the negotiating team for the peace deal, with Mr Trump calling the former Arkansas governor “AMAZING” as he said he “worked so hard, and did so much, to bring about peace in the Middle East”.
In August, Mr Huckabee said the UK and other European nations who said they would declare a Palestinian state were “having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want”.
Israel: UK did not play key role in peace deal
Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister, Sharren Haskell, told Sky News the UK played “the opposite” of a key role in the peace deal after the Palestinian state declaration, which eventually happened in September.
She accused the PM’s initial threat “at a very sensitive time” in July of having “pushed Hamas to embolden their position and to refuse a ceasefire two months ago”.
“I think that right now, the quiet that was given during the negotiation, and to President Trump, had probably played a bigger role than what the government had done two months ago,” she said.
“The message that the UK government has sent Hamas was the message that: the longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.
“I mean, you must understand that when a terrorist organisation is thanking you. You are on the wrong side of history.”
Read more:
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Hamas official thanks Donald Trump for ceasefire deal
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Final preparations for hostages in Israeli hospital
Ms Phillipson stood by the decision to declare a Palestinian state, saying it was “the right thing to do”.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Sky News it was a “moment of leadership” for the UK to declare a Palestinian state, and a “responsibility to begin to correct a century of the gravest historic injustices committed against our people”.
He added: “That moment three weeks ago, when the UK did recognise, is a moment when we can say that the wheels of history are turning in a different direction.”
No plans for British troops on the ground
The education secretary also told Sky News the government has “no plans” to put British troops into Israel or Gaza as part of a stabilisation force after the ceasefire.
The US military will help establish a multinational force in Israel, known as a civil-military coordination centre, which is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have walked back to Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Pic: AP
On Friday, US officials said up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East will be moved to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza.
The day before, President Trump announced Israel and Hamas had “signed off on the first phase” of a peace plan he unveiled last week.
Pic: Reuters
Aid trucks have been gathering in Egypt to cross into Gaza after months of warnings by aid groups of famine in parts of the territory.
In Israel, the remaining hostages are due to be returned from Gaza by Hamas on Monday under the first phase of the peace plan. Twenty are believed to still be alive, 26 have been declared dead, while the fate of two is unknown.
The ceasefire agreement has been made two years after Hamas stormed Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN deems reliable.
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