SNP MP calls for ‘Plan B’ which could lead to Scotland declaring independence without referendum

Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry retains her seat at the UK Parliamentary General Election. Photograph: Lesley Martin/PA. - Credit: PA

SNP MP Joanna Cherry has called for a debate within the party on achieving an alternative route to Scottish independence if Boris Johnson continues to refuse a second vote.

Cherry, the SNP justice spokesperson at Westminster, said her leader Nicola Sturgeon should consider more drastic proposals for Scottish independence by using the parliamentary elections as a proxy ballot.

Cherry is continuing to look at different legal routes for the country part with the rest of the union, and has previously called on her party to pass a bill to stage an indicative referendum.

She believes her party would win any battles with Boris Johnson’s government over the legal basis, and is calling for the debate to be had at the next party conference.

Using the next set of Holyrood elections as a proxy for declaring independence would be the biggest test yet for Boris Johnson’s leadership.

He has continued to rule out holding a second independence referendum while he is prime minister.

Up until now the majority of support for a ‘Plan B’ has failed to gain traction in Holyrood.

SNP MP Pete Wishart has warned that such proposals would put Scotland in the same ‘hellish limbo’ that Catalonia faced when separatists held an illegal referendum.

It resulted in the Spanish senate voting in favour of enforcing direct rule to remove the Catalan government and calling a snap election.