Leading Scottish Labour politician calls for second referendum on Scottish independence

A leading Scottish Labour politician has called for a second independence referendum.

By Scotsman Reporter Saturday, 14th December 2019, 3:12 pm

Alison Evison, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla).

Alison Evison, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), made the announcement on Saturday via Twitter and claimed democracy had become "fragile".

It comes after the Prime Minister reiterated his opposition to indyref2, despite Nicola Sturgeon saying it is now a "democratic right".

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Ms Evison, who is a Labour councillor in Aberdeenshire, said: "It's straight-forward to me: democracy must be at the core of all we do.

"Recently it has become fragile and we must strengthen it again.

"We can strengthen it by enabling the voice of Scotland to be heard through its formal processes & that must mean a referendum on independence."

Richard Leonard, leader of Scottish Labour, has previously said a majority for pro-independence parties in Scotland in 2021 would be a mandate for a second vote.

Scotland's apparent "once in a generation" referendum took place in 2014 and saw 55% vote to remain part of the UK.

However, there was also a large majority for staying within the EU in the Brexit ballot.