Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    +1.76 (+2.16%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +42.10 (+1.90%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,142.85
    +1,256.77 (+2.29%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,338.05
    +12.12 (+0.28%)
     

Former PM Brown sees no democratic mandate for Scottish independence vote

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he did not think the Scottish National Party would have a democratic mandate to hold a referendum on Scottish independence even if it wins May's Scottish elections as expected.

"No, no, I don't think so," Brown, who is Scottish, said on BBC radio in answer to a question on whether the SNP would have a democratic mandate if it won the election on a platform of holding a referendum.

"People in Scotland are worried about the virus, they're worried about jobs, they're worried about the future of young people, this is their priority at the moment.

"Anything that diverts from that at the moment, holding a referendum this year, in the midst of a virus when you can't even have public meetings or door-to-door canvassing, would seem quite unfair to the democratic process."

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Sarah Young)

Watch: Gordon Brown - UK in danger of becoming 'failed state' if 'massive inequalities' not addressed