Dr. Alan Renwick:

I am probably the only Scot on the call so perhaps I should answer the question about Scottish independence. Ahead of the 2014 referendum the UK Government recognised that with the SNP having won a majority in the Scottish Parliament on the basis of a manifesto commitment to hold a referendum, it was appropriate that there should be a referendum. It did not explicitly say that it acknowledged the right of self-determination of Scotland but, in effect, that appears to be what it was doing in that case. As the Deputy will know very well, the current UK Government takes a rather different view on that. It has not explicitly argued against the principle that Scotland has a right of self-determination but it has indicated that it will say "not yet". Boris Johnson has suggested that it might be appropriate to have a gap of 40 years between referendums.

The situation in Northern Ireland is different because of the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement is clear in stating a minimum gap of seven years between referendums, which is a minimum gap. It is not that there must be a referendum after seven years but, presumably, if a referendum were narrowly defeated and it appeared again that there was majority support for unification after seven years, the criterion would again be met and it would be necessary for the Secretary of State to call a referendum.