AN SNP MP has put forward a proposal to change the party’s leadership motion on independence from the number of seats to the majority of votes as the trigger for negotiations.
Pete Wishart, the party’s longest-serving member of the House of Commons, has put forward a change to the motion on General Election strategy ahead of the October conference.
The Perth and North Perthshire MP has been a strong supporter of the route to ensure that the majority of votes cast would count as support for Scottish independence, rather than the majority of seats at the next General Election.
First Minister Humza Yousaf, who told The National that he is “confident” SNP members will back his plan, has insisted that winning the most seats means winning the General Election in Scotland.
After the motion was initially published, Wishart said it would not be “credible” or “realistic” for the SNP to “try and assert some sort of move towards independence if you're not carrying the majority of people with you".
It comes after another amendment to the motion was put forward, calling for a revival of the Yes brand with a new Scotland-wide campaign to be established by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Wishart’s amendment would simply delete the wording in the motion, co-signed by Yousaf (below) and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, that says “most seats” and replace it with the phrase, “majority of the vote in conjunction with other independence parties”.
The SNP MP said: “Humza and Stephen’s motion is a good motion, which only requires this final amendment to allow us to credibly claim that we have democratically secured an endorsement for independence from the Scottish people.
“If we are looking to assert our independence in a way that amasses international credibility, this can only be secured with the consent of 50%+ of the Scottish people.
“As we have seen from the totally predictable rejection from the Labour Party, the seats mandate will and can be readily dismissed.
“Where seats can be dismissed, a majority vote in favour of independence is something entirely different.
“A majority vote for independence is a clear democratic statement from the Scottish people that would allow us to credibly press our independence claims and which gives us the people’s consent to operate more as an independent nation.”
He added that it is important that the votes of “all parties” committed to Scottish independence are included in the total.
“Because the UK has closed the referendum route, we will have to secure this through an election, and elections are fought by political parties,” Wishart (below) added.
“I think the party has accepted that the referendum route is now dead, and we should not be inviting the UK to say ‘no’ any longer, whether that’s to repeated requests for a referendum or more powers to enable one. It is therefore important that we get the election route right.
“This is likely to be the defining debate at our conference when we consider our independence strategy and I encourage all branches and elected members to support this amendment.”
