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Still seeing folk argue about the Once in a Generation/Indy mandate thing so I thought the following might be useful.
1. There was no commitment to once in a generation in the Edinburgh Agreement, which paved the way for the referendum in 2014. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13077067.the-text-of-the-edinburgh-agreement-in-full/">https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/1307...
2. There were references to once in a generation in the White Paper on independence. They expressed the view of the Scottish Government at the time. They were not a commitment. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-future/">https://www.gov.scot/publicati...
3. Following the referendum, the Smith Commission brought together all parties to deliver further devolution. Report contained an agreed commitment that nothing in it prevents Scotland becoming an independent country if the people of Scotland so choose. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.../The_Smith_Commission_Rep…">https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.../The_S...
4. The SNP manifesto in 2016 contained the following commitment. https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/thesnp/pages/5540/attachments/original/1461753756/SNP_Manifesto2016-accesible.pdf%3F1461753756&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi5_Lvp8dPrAhWD_aQKHY77A54QFjABegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1Az2oUmg_uXbSiBbQQYlHE">https://www.google.co.uk/url...
5. The manifesto stated that the SNP would seek a second independence referendum if Scotland was taken out the EU against our will OR if there was clear & sustained evidence that independence has majority support. In fact, both those conditions have now been met.
6. A majority of voters in all of Scotland& #39;s 32 local authorities voted to remain in the EU. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/eu-referendum/results-and-turnout-eu-referendum/eu-referendum-results-region-scotland">https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-ar...
7. The Scottish Government - and SNP MPs in Westminster - made a commitment to work intensively to prevent Scotland & the UK facing a hard brexit. They exhausted every available option to achieve this. An independence referendum is now only option. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-place-europe/">https://www.gov.scot/publicati...
8. Evidence now suggests that independence is the preferred option of the majority of voters in Scotland. https://whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/how-would-you-vote-in-the-in-a-scottish-independence-referendum-if-held-now-ask/?removed">https://whatscotlandthinks.org/questions...
9.Taking all this together, there is simply no reasonable basis to oppose a second independence referendum to be held in the next term of the Scottish Parliament if the SNP wins, or to vote against the bill setting out timescales that will be brought before MSPs in this session.
