Not the time for referendum

Published on Saturday 24 October 2009 19:56

MANY Liberal Democrats must be deeply uncomfortable when they are asked to explain why their party is opposed to holding a referendum on Scottish independence. Such a ballot would be, after all, both the liberal and democratic way of settling this question, and opinion polls say most voters believe a referendum is the right way to decide this issue.

Indeed it is. Independence would be such a massive constitutional change that it would be entirely wrong if the electorate was not given a direct say on it. That, however, does not mean Scottish Liberal

Democrats are duty bound to vote reflexively in favour of any kind of referendum proposed by First Minister Alex Salmond.

The SNP government's constitutional affairs minister Mike Russell argues on this page that such a position is untenable. But Tavish Scott, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, could respond that, in fact, it is Russell's stance which is poorly founded.

Russell is a member of a minority government that was elected on a third of the vote and whose central reason for existing has similar, or perhaps less, support. There is no reason to suppose that a majority will is being frustrated, or even suppressed, by a refusal to entertain a referendum. Given rather more pressing worries that the Scottish economic recovery may be lagging any UK upturn, an independence referendum is liable to create such uncertainty that recovery would be further postponed. Now is entirely the wrong time for such a plebiscite.