There will 'undoubtedly' be a second independence referendum, says Scottish Tory MP

Yes activists gather in Glasgow on September 17, 2014. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images | Getty Images

There will "undoubtedly" be another independence referendum at some point in the future, a Scottish Conservative MP has said.

Andrew Bowie said it would be "a legitimate thing for Scotland to have" but insisted there are much bigger issues to focus on right now.

He made the comments at Iain Dale's All Talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe, which was hosted by Matthew Stadlen because Mr Dale is unwell.

Scottish Labour MP Michael Shanks, the energy minister, also told the same event he thought there would be another referendum "at some point", but argued the result would be the same as in 2014. 

The constitution has dominated Scottish politics over the last decade, but many believe the debate is now moving on following the SNP’s disastrous general election result, which saw the party drop from 48 MPs in 2019 to just nine.

Mr Bowie admitted he could not say what was in the last Scottish Tory manifesto because the party has focused “solely” on the constitution, to the detriment of anything else.

He said: "I admit it's been to the benefit of the Scottish Conservative Party because we have fought very hard over the past 10 years about being the strongest unionist party, the strongest alternative to those who are seeking to break apart the United Kingdom. 

"And now that that question seems to be off the table, for the moment at least, that poses a challenge to us Scottish Conservatives. What do we stand for, other than being 'not the SNP'? Other than being the strongest unionist alternative to the Scottish National Party?"

He added: "We believe, absolutely, in lower taxation, a smaller state, greater freedoms, individual responsibility, a greater emphasis on education, all of those things. 

“But I couldn't even tell you what was in the last Scottish Conservative manifesto, because the focus was solely on beating the SNP and No to another independence referendum. We rammed that down everybody's throats, and everybody knew, across a lot of Scotland, that we were the strongest alternative. But we have to come up with something different now."

Mr Bowie, the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said all the main political parties in Scotland had been "suckered into focusing on this constitutional debate, which we need to put to one side". 

He added: "Will there be another referendum on Scottish independence? Undoubtedly, in the future there will be. Is that a legitimate thing for Scotland to have? Absolutely. Is it a legitimate belief for somebody to hold that Scotland should be independent? 100 per cent. Do we need to focus on that right now? No. Are there far bigger issues for us to focus on right now? Yes, absolutely."

Mr Shanks, the MP for Rutherglen, said the next Holyrood election in 2026 will be “a referendum” on almost two decades of the SNP being in power in Scotland.

He said: “I think, the UK election, even though it was about reserved issues, almost every door I went to it was about a devolved issue. It was about someone who was on an NHS waiting list, or cuts to school budgets, or cuts to local government budgets.”

He said it was “really clear” people were “absolutely fed up” of the SNP Government.