Scottish Independence: Michael Moore says date no barrier to referendum deal

SCOTTISH secretary Michael Moore has said that the UK government does not view the SNP’s planned date for the independence referendum as a “barrier” to a deal with Alex Salmond on holding the vote.

The Lib Dem cabinet minister’s intervention comes after David Cameron said he is not “fussed” about the timing of the referendum, which the SNP wants to hold in autumn 2014.

Mr Moore called for fresh referendum talks with the SNP as the UK government is set to publish the 3,000 responses to its consultation on the vote today.

The Scottish secretary called for an agreement with the SNP government over “delivering a single question on the core issue of independence”.

Mr Moore said: “We’ve indicated that we don’t anticipate the date being a barrier to an agreement. But we do need agreement on delivering a single question on the core issue of independence, which both governments support.”

The SNP’s constitutional affairs spokesman Pete Wishart accused Mr Cameron and Mr Moore of a “cave-in” over the 2014 referendum date.