‘No’ vote may not be the end of the indy saga

Scotland could face another independence referendum within four years even if it votes No this September, according to one of the nation’s leading electoral experts.

Professor Patrick Dunleavy explained at a seminar in London last week that should the Tories win next year’s General Election and hold a vote on Britain’s membership of the EU in 2017 as promised, a situation could emerge in which the UK left Europe but the majority of Scots voted to stay in.

He warned: “There’s a risk this referendum this year will be questioned. We could have a push to re-do the referendum within four years.”

Prof Dunleavy, of the London School of Economics, previously shook up the independence debate when he questioned Treasury figures for an independent Scotland’s set-up costs.