Scotland will vote for independence, says Labour MP

A former Labour Cabinet minister has said he is “100% certain” Scotland will become independent.

Ben Bradshaw MP said it was “completely untenable” for the UK Government to deny a second vote on the matter, adding he had “no doubt” voters north of the border would opt to leave the UK.

The former culture secretary spoke out in an interview with the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

He said: “I have no doubt at all that Scotland will become independent.

“It is completely untenable that the Government in London is denying Scots the right to self-determination.

“The Scots expressed in the 2016 EU referendum, and in the two subsequent general elections, that they do not want to leave the EU.

“It is important to understand that the United Kingdom is based on the consent of all parts of the country.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson requesting powers to hold a referendum be transferred to Holyrood.

The SNP leader has said previously she wants there to be a vote on independence in the later part of 2020.

Mr Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter, revealed while members of his family had voted against independence in the previous referendum in 2014, they had since changed their stance.

He said: “I am married to a Scotsman. Every member of our family in Scotland voted against independence in the 2014 referendum.

“But in December’s general election they all gave their vote to the SNP for the first time in their lives. And they would now vote differently from 2014.

“Scotland will become independent. I’m 100% certain about that.”