Nicola Sturgeon: Another independence referendum won't be held for five years unless majority of Scots support it

She told supporters she wanted to “inspire” people who voted against independence last year to back the SNP

Another referendum on Scottish independence will not be held in the next five years unless there is “strong evidence” that a clear majority of Scots support breaking away from the Union, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Playing down the idea of an imminent second poll on Scotland’s future as she opened the SNP’s autumn conference in Aberdeen, the First Minister said even a “thumping win” for her party at next year’s Scottish Parliament election would not be enough to trigger another referendum.


 Ms Sturgeon said she respected the decision taken by the Scottish people at last year’s referendum

She told supporters she wanted to “inspire” people who voted against independence last year to back the SNP at the forthcoming Holyrood election, using her speech to reassure No voters that backing her party would be in Scotland’s best interests.

Ms Sturgeon said she respected the decision taken by the Scottish people at last year’s referendum, telling the conference: “To propose another referendum in the next parliament without strong evidence that a significant number of those who voted No have changed their minds would be wrong and we won’t do it. It would not be respecting the decision that people made.”

However, she said she believed support for independence – which has increased slightly since last year’s vote – would “continue to rise” in the face of the Conservative Party’s austerity policies and the likely renewal of the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent, which is based in Scotland.

“If there is strong and consistent evidence that people have changed their minds and that independence has become the choice of a clear majority in this country, then we have no right to rule out a referendum and we won’t do that either,” she said. “No one has the right to stand in the way of democracy.”

She added that demand for a second independence vote would be “unstoppable” if David Cameron tried to take Scotland out of the EU against the wishes of its voters following the forthcoming referendum on the UK’s membership.

In a separate interview after her speech, the First Minister told the BBC that if the SNP won a landslide victory at next year’s Scottish Parliament election – which current polls suggest is likely – another referendum would not be “inevitable”. On the timing of a second vote, she said: “It will be down to whether we judge – I judge – that people who voted No last year have changed their minds.”

The only major policy announcement in Ms Sturgeon’s speech was a promise that her party would build 50,000 new affordable homes over five years if it wins next May’s Scottish Parliament election. She said the £3 billion project was an “early commitment” which proved that her party’s manifesto for next year’s election would be “radical, ambitious and progressive”.

The target, which amounts to almost double the 30,000 affordable homes the SNP Government will have built by the end of this parliament, was immediately welcomed by campaign groups who have warned that a looming housing crisis could lead to a spike in homelessness across Scotland.

The First Minister also used her speech to attack Jeremy Corbyn, saying it had become “glaringly obvious” over the past few weeks that Labour’s new leader is incapable of uniting his party so it can act as an effective opposition to the Conservatives.

“Whether on the economy, or Trident, or even the question of whether UK forces should take part in air strikes on Syria, Labour is a party divided and in disarray,” she said. “In fact, the only thing clear about Labour – and it becomes clearer by the day – is this: Labour is unreliable, unelectable and unable to stand up to the Tories.”