Scotland only entitled to a second independence referendum in 20 years, says Jacob Rees-Mogg

Leading Brexiteer says Government should not hand immigration powers to Holyrood after Britain leaves EU

Jacob Rees-Mogg (PA)

Scotland is not entitled to a second independence referendum for another 20 years, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.

The Tory MP and leading Brexiteer also said Holyrood should not have control over immigration and trade after the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has called for the issues to be devolved, claiming the country’s prosperity and and public services are at risk from a shortage of EU workers and new barriers to trade.

Her Scottish National Party (SNP) responded to Mr Rees-Mogg's comments by saying Brexit represented a "significant material change in circumstances" that could justify a second independence referendum.

While Mr Rees-Mogg said Scotland was "entitled to have another referendum at some point in the future", he told the BBC that he thought "the SNP’s position of a generation is a reasonable one – that it should be a generational decision and a generational decision is not one made over two or three years."

He added: "A generation is somewhere beyond 20 years.”

Ms Sturgeon vowed earlier this year to update Holyrood on whether she would press for a second referendum by the autumn, when a Brexit deal was expected to have become clear.

Last month she indicated she was unlikely to make a decision on an independence referendum by October because of uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

Mr Rees-Mogg said handing the Scottish government powers over immigration and trade would be “very difficult”.

He said: “There are some powers held by the European Union that will inevitably flow down to the devolved parliaments or assemblies. Whether it’s possible to do it on trade is a more complex issue because those are international treaties that affect the whole of the United Kingdom market and it would be difficult to do on a devolved basis.”

The Somerset MP added: “To do it for immigration would be really difficult because once people had come into Scotland, how would you limit their ability to go around the rest of the country? We certainly don’t want to be the sort of country that has internal controls or identify cards. I think that would undermine some of our most ancient freedoms.”

A Brexit deal appeared more likely and he said it was “crucial” the Government negotiated favourable terms for fishing to help the Scottish economy.

Playing down claims he would make a bid for the Conservative leadership, he tipped Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson for the position instead.

A spokeswoman for the SNP said: “The fact that right-wing extreme Brexiteer Tories like Jacob Rees-Mogg are seeking to dictate to the people of Scotland shows exactly why decisions about Scotland should be taken in Scotland and not at Westminster. Not only does Jacob Rees-Mogg back Brexit, he is also against allowing Scotland to chart our own course to mitigate the worst effects of Brexit.

“The SNP’s 2016 manifesto clearly set out the case for a second independence referendum if there was a ‘significant material change in circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will’ — a position that has subsequently been backed by a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.”