Professor says second independence referendum could still be years away

We're being warned an independence referendum might not be on the cards as soon as we think.

That's the verdict of Professor James Mitchell after the SNP's big win in the Holyrood election.

It's after Nicola Sturgeon claimed a second vote is now a matter of when, not if.

The First Minister spoke to the Prime Minister yesterday about the SNP's election victory and working with other UK leaders on the recovery from Covid.

But Professor James Mitchell, Professor of Public Policy at Edinburgh University, believes it could still be a matter of years before we see a second referendum.

He said: "There are 129 members of the Scottish Parliament who agree on one thing, and that is that the recovery is has to be the priority.

"If they're serious about that, it does mean that we're going to be focusing at least for a year on recovery issues.

"I think we're in a phoney war period, I think we'll hear each side of the independence issue battling away.

"We'll not really see any great progress, there will have to be some kind of agreement between the two sides on a referendum if it's to happen - the rules, the timing.

"I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, so I think for the next period it could go on for months, it's going to be a phoney war.

"In truth, neither the SNP nor the tories in London want a referendum anytime soon.

"The polls are not favouring either side sufficiently to be confident of victory so I think it's really phoney war time."

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