Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

The Scotsman today reports that the newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland may consider supporting the concept of a multi-opinion referendum on Independence for Scotland. It seems that Tavish Scott has moved his opinion from opposing such a referendum prior to the leadership campaign to indicating that ‘I am not intuitively against making sure that people have a choice and an opportunity to cast a vote on these thing’. For a party that prides itself in promoting decisions made by party members, supporting a referendum should be a given ( we certainly know all about that here in Wales!) yet Tavish Scott has been wary to support any Independence referendum until now. The SNP run Scottish Parliament press team reacted in a predictably confident fashion to Scott’s apparent u-turn by stating:

‘”We had Wobbly Wendy, and now we have Twisting Tavish. Tavish Scott was previously known for his hard line opposition to a referendum, and now we look forward to him upholding Liberal Democrat principles and supporting the Scottish Government’s referendum bill in 2010.”

This does look more encouraging for the SNP government in terms of their ability to initiate a referendum of such a kind as a minority administration at Holyrood. The success of the SNP in the polls has spiralled- leaving the Unionists perplexed as to where to take the constitutional debate. It is a sure sign as to why such parties are at least considering co-operation with regards the referendum debate.

Alex Salmond will no doubt keep a keen eye on the maneuverings of the new Lib dem leader in Scotland. Scott on the other hand will try and learn from Labour in Scotland’s mistake, and pray that his stance on the referendum will not factor at all in any possible loss of his position as leader.