Scotland should adopt a Northern Ireland-style set of rules that would allow a second independence referendum if the UK Government believes it will confirm the break-up of the Union, leading figures on both sides have said.
Kezia Dugdale, the former leader of Scottish Labour, and Stephen Noon, who ran strategy for Yes Scotland before the 2014 vote, have suggested the mechanism in a new paper for Glasgow University’s Centre for Public Policy.
Dugdale and Noon contest that the need for constitutional reform had not evaporated despite the SNP’s heavy loss to Labour at the general election.
They said that any changes to the devolution settlement must be based on how they would improve MSPs’ ability to govern.
They also said that if the UK were to be seen as a “voluntary Union”, it must have an agreed mechanism for constituent nations to leave if they wish to do so.
Under Dugdale and Noon’s proposal, which they said should be examined by a separate group, Ian Murray, the Scottish secretary, “would have a legal duty to permit a referendum” on Scottish independence if it looked likely it would have majority support.
It says the criteria for this decision would be a matter for agreement between the UK and Scottish governments, with a range of measures such as opinion polling and election results used to gauge public mood.
The result would be decided by a simple majority and there should be an undefined but agreed minimum period between referendums. That gap for Northern Ireland is seven years.
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