SWINNEY INVITES BURNHAM TO DISCUSS SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM MECHANISM

First Minister John Swinney has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham inviting him to meet and establish a legal mechanism for triggering a Scottish independence referendum. Swinney's letter follows remarks made by Burnham at Prime Minister's Questions, in which Burnham said the conditions for holding an independence referendum in Scotland should be "exactly the same" as those governing a border poll in Northern Ireland under the Good Friday Agreement. Swinney interpreted Burnham's comments as acceptance that majority support for independence in Scotland should trigger a new referendum. Burnham's office later stated there had been no change in his position that such a vote was currently "off limits".

Burnham made his remarks whilst responding to a question from SNP MP Chris Law about the Good Friday Agreement, which contains a provision allowing the Northern Ireland Secretary to call a border poll if it appears likely that the people would vote for reunification. Burnham stated that a border poll "be considered by the Northern Ireland Secretary when there is clear consensus in the country—when public opinion has changed to the point at which the call has to be considered", and said the same principle should apply in Scotland. Swinney's letter welcomed Burnham's remarks as "a long-overdue acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future". Swinney noted that Burnham's previous refusal to hold talks on Scottish independence had become "clearly unsustainable" given recent Holyrood election results.

Swinney called for the establishment of an agreed legal mechanism similar to that which exists in Northern Ireland. He stated that Burnham's remarks represented "a clear endorsement of the fact that the UK must be a voluntary Union". The First Minister invited Burnham to meet to discuss how to formalise the principle into law. No confirmed date for such a meeting has been announced.