"Scotland's Voice Must be Heard" says Hanvey as ALBA Call on SNP to Back Scotland (Self-Determination) Bill

Alba Westminster Group Leader Neale Hanvey MP will reintroduce his Scotland (Self-Determination) Bill on Tuesday 16 January. The Bill seeks to “amend the Scotland Act 1998 to transfer the power to legislate for a Scottish independence referendum to the Scottish Parliament; to provide that that power may only be exercised where the Scottish public has demonstrated its support for the holding of such a referendum; to provide that no such referendum may be held sooner than seven years after the previous such referendum.”

The Bill is being backed by Kenny MacAskill (ALBA), Angus Brendan MacNeil (Independent), Joanna Cherry (SNP), Carol Monaghan (SNP), Jonathan Edwards (Independent) and Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru).

Introducing his Bill to the House of Commons Neale Hanvey MP will state:

“There must be a credible and viable route for the people of Scotland to choose their own constitutional future. This Bill offers just such a route. It places the power to decide firmly where it belongs – in the hands of the people of Scotland and it does so by transferring the power to hold a referendum on Independence to the Scottish Parliament.

“It is a parallel initiative to that being taken in the Scottish Parliament by my Alba colleague Ash Regan MSP who has brought forward a draft Bill that would allow for a referendum to be held to ask the people of Scotland if they think the Scottish Parliament should have the powers to negotiate and legislate for Independence. This would be about consulting the people of Scotland on their opinion on extending the decision-making power of their parliament to hold such a referendum, a proposition backed up by expert legal opinion from Aidan O’Neill KC.

“Both proposals have at their heart the democratic imperative that Scotland’s political destiny must be in the hands of the people of Scotland, not in the hands of the Westminster parliament or the Supreme Court.”

Speaking prior to introducing his Bill Mr Hanvey stated:

“I am challenging the SNP as a party founded on the promise of independence to back my Self-Determination Bill. Should there be a vote, every independence-supporting MP needs to register their voice in the face of Westminster intransigence. Scotland’s voice must be heard.”