SNP MP Angus MacNeil calls for IndyRef2 '˜within a year'

A long-serving SNP MP has called for a second referendum on Scottish independence within 12 months following last night's Brexit vote, which saw Theresa May avoid a damaging Brexit defeat in the Commons.

After the vote, Angus MacNeil told the House that the Scottish Government has “no option” but to stage IndyRef2 within a year.

But Scots Tory MP John Lamont called the intervention “as predictable as it is pathetic”.

Shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird criticised the 13 Scottish Tory MPs, most of whom backed Remain, for being Mrs May’s “lobby fodder”.

Angus MacNeil called for IndyRef2 'within a year'

“The vote was lost by four,” she said. “The fact that they have no backbone and are unwilling to do what’s in the best interests of the country tells you everything you need to know.”

Mrs May came within six votes of the possible collapse of her government as MPs narrowly rejected an amendment to trade legislation that could have forced the UK to stay in the EU customs union.

The Commons voted by 307 to 301 against the amendment from pro-EU Tory rebels that would have wrecked the Prime Minister’s Brexit strategy and plunged the government into chaos.