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Michael Gove suggests Scots living in rest of UK could vote in second independence referendum

Michael Gove has said extending the franchise to Scots living in the rest of the UK is an interesting idea - Reuters
Michael Gove has said extending the franchise to Scots living in the rest of the UK is an interesting idea - Reuters

Michael Gove has triggered uproar from senior Nationalists by suggesting that hundreds of thousands of Scots living in the rest of the UK could be given a vote in a second independence referendum.

The Cabinet Office Minister, tasked by Boris Johnson with protecting the Union, tweeted that extending the franchise to include Scots based south of the Border was an "interesting idea."

He was responding to a message posted by fellow Scot George Galloway, who argued that "795,000 Scots living elsewhere in the UK MUST have a vote" if there is another separation referendum.

Mr Galloway, the former Glasgow Kelvin MP, said: "If UK expats can vote in General Elections from Spain then an existential question like Separatism MUST be answered by all Scots."

But his intervention was met with a hostile response from senior separatists, with Mike Russell, the SNP's Constitution Minister, accusing Mr Gove of trying to gerrymander the vote following a poll showing 55 per cent support for independence.

Mr Russell said Unionists were already trying to "nobble the question" on the ballot paper and claimed he would not get a vote under Mr Galloway's system because he was born in Bromley, Kent.

However, this claim was ridiculed by Andrew Neil, the Scots-born BBC political broadcaster based in London, who noted that Mr Russell is on the electoral roll in Scotland and the proposal only related to Scots who are not.

It also emerged that Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's White Paper before the 2014 referendum stated that Scots living in the rest of the UK would be considered citizens of a separate Scotland.

Mr Gove's brief comment raised eyebrows as it was the first time a senior UK Cabinet Minister has appeared to engage with the concept of a second independence referendum, which is vigorously oppsed by the Tory Government.

Senior insiders insisted Mr Gove, who was raised in Aberdeen, was "having fun" by making mischief with the Nationalists and there had been no change in Government policy. He is on holiday this week.

David Cameron and Mr Salmond negotiated the rules around the timing, franchise and ballot paper question for the 2014 vote in the Edinburgh Agreement, which gave the vote to those resident in Scotland but not Scots living elsewhere.

However, Mr Gove's intervention raised the prospect of the Prime Minister making a 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer of another vote to Ms Sturgeon on his preferred terms. Adding Scots living elsewhere in the UK to the franchise would likely benefit the Unionist side.

Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster leader, said any change to the franchise "looks desperate, and undemocratic" with polls showing a "consistent majority" in favour of separation.

The row broke out after two more opinion polls this week showed majority support for independence in Scotland, with one showing 54 per cent backing and another 55 per cent.

But a new YouGov survey found only 36 per cent of Scots consider independence "one of the most important issues facing the country", while 56 per cent said it "distracts" from other issues.

The poll, commissioned by the Scottish Fabians, said 46 per cent wanted the decision on any future referendum to be jointly made by the UK and Scottish governments compared to 42 per cent who said it should be for the SNP administration alone.

Three-quarters (76 per cent) said they wanted the two governments to work well together but only 8 per cent said they did.

Katherine Sangster, national manager of the Scottish Fabians, said: "“The message to the SNP from this polling is clear: the majority of the Scottish people see independence as a distraction."