Gray: This is no time to vote on independence
HOLYROOD Labour leader Iain Gray yesterday admitted Scots may want an independence referendum – but not in the middle of an economic downturn.
He told the conference it was wrong to decide on Scotland’s future during a recession and under a “rigged” ballot .
Mr Gray attacked the SNP ’s planned 2010 referendum, saying First Minister Alex Salmond had “no mandate, no majority and no shame”. He said: “Alex Salmond is not taking my country forward. He is dragging it back.”
The Scottish Government has said it will bring forward a referendum Bill to allow a ballot on independence to take place on St Andrew’s Day next year. Yesterday Mr Gray demanded the SNP leader go head to head with him in a debate this St Andrew’s Day to discuss Scotland’s constitutional future. Mr Gray said: “The day may well come when the people of Scotland want a referendum to settle their constitutional future once and for all. But not now, in the midst of a recession. And not on a question rigged by the SNP.”
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “If Iain Gray wants a debate, he has a democratic obligation to support the Bill so that the people of Scotland have the opportunity to choose their future.”