Humza Yousaf tells Westminster ‘bring it on’ as he shifts strategy for indyref2
Humza Yousaf has shifted his strategy towards a second Scottish independence referendum as he told Westminster to “bring it on”.
The first minister said the Scottish National Party (SNP) would begin negotiations on leaving the UK if they won a majority of seats (29) in Scotland at a general election.
Speaking to the BBC, Yousaf, whose in-laws from Dundee – Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband, Maged – are trapped in a war zone in Gaza, said: “If you want one, bring it on. We’ll do it tomorrow. I guarantee you, independence will be here sooner rather than later.”
It marks a shift from former leader Nicola Sturgeon’s policy of treating the next election as a de facto referendum – meaning the party would treat an election as a single-issue campaign and a result of 50 per cent plus one of the vote as a victory for Scottish independence.
The move comes as the SNP holds their annual party conference in Aberdeen, where attendees debated the party’s approach to the process of Scotland exiting the UK.
Party members backed Yousaf and Stephen Flynn’s motion to immediately begin independence negotiations with the UK government if it wins a majority in Scotland – as an amendment for it to depend on winning a majority of votes, rather than seats, was rejected.
Speaking before the debate, SNP Westminster leader Flynn said: “We are asking the Scottish people to put trust in themselves – to take powers and our future into our own hands.”
And Yousaf said the amendment calling for a majority of the vote was a “trap that no other party sets itself to win”.
Yousaf also told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “If Westminster parties want to test the proposition for 50 per cent plus one, I’m happy to do that.
“That has to be through a referendum to test propositions for popular support. We want a referendum, demand a referendum. We’ve been elected on a mandate for a referendum.”
Yousaf had previously suggested during his leadership campaign for Edinburgh’s Bute House, that independence must become the “settled will” of the Scottish people.
He insisted to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire: “The SNP has had mandate after mandate to hold a referendum, a second referendum… particularly after Brexit.
“That has been denied to us by the Westminster government. The policy I’m proposing is that the next test of the proposition will be at a general election.”
The conference comes after the SNP lost the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election to Labour, while its former MP Lisa Cameron crossed the floor to join the Tories just days ago.