Scotland referendum 'date needed'

Jan 31 2013

The First Minister has been challenged to be "straight" with the public and name the date for the independence referendum.

Alex Salmond was told to fill in the missing piece of the jigsaw one day after politicians settled on a revised version of the question, due to be asked at an undisclosed point in autumn next year.

The call was made by Tory leader Ruth Davidson in the weekly First Minister's Questions session at Holyrood, which was again dominated by exchanges on Scotland's constitutional future.

Ms Davidson said: "Now the Electoral Commission report has been widely accepted by all sides of the chamber, we know the spending limits and the question for the referendum but, as mentioned, there is a piece of the jigsaw missing. Can the First Minister tell the people of Scotland what is the exact date on which the referendum takes place?"

Mr Salmond said a Bill containing the date will be published in March. "I'm sure that's what Ruth Davidson fully expects to happen," he told Parliament. Ms Davidson said the response displayed a "coy reticence".

The exchange comes in light of advice by the Electoral Commission that the Scottish Government's preferred referendum question was "biased". Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon quickly accepted the revision to the question, which will now ask: Should Scotland be an independent country?

As well as changing the wording of the question for the referendum, the commission said that voters want more factual information before the ballot. Labour leader Johann Lamont said that "the people of Scotland have made it clear they want clear, honest information".

With the process of the referendum now "almost agreed, bar the date", Ms Lamont said the parties can now "get down to the substance of the debate". But she demanded to know: "How will the First Minister conduct that debate?"

Mr Salmond told her: "We'll conduct our debate for an independent Scotland in a positive manner. I wonder if the Better Together campaign of Labour and Tories can match that commitment."

The Labour leader hit back: "If the independence debate is to be conducted in what he describes as positive terms, heaven help us all."