No independence referendum if SNP wins majority, Reeves says

Rachel Reeves has reiterated the UK government's position on the constitution

A second independence referendum will not be held if the SNP wins a majority at next year's Holyrood election, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.

Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison accused the Labour minister of an "astonishing display of arrogance".

First Minister John Swinney plans to declare a mandate for a referendum if his party wins a majority of seats in May - a strategy that was used to secure the 2014 independence vote.

But Reeves told Radio Scotland's Breakfast: "I'm going to be very clear, there won't be another referendum."

"When there was a referendum just a few years ago it was said that this was a once-in-a-generation referendum.

"People gave their verdict then, we don't need another one."

Asked how long a generation was, the chancellor said: "Certainly not 12 years."

She argued that the Scottish government should focus on bringing down NHS waiting lists, improving the education system and investing in infrastructure.

John Swinney plans to declare a mandate for a referendum if his party wins a majority of seats in May

Robison insisted Labour's stance "can't hold" if the SNP wins a majority of seats.

She told Breakfast: "This is a Labour government that is now one of the most unpopular that we have seen in history and they are telling the Scottish people that they can't decide their own future.

"That, I think, will drive Labour opinion polls even further down.

"It is an astonishing display of arrogance."

'Once in a generation'

Former first minister Alex Salmond repeatedly referred to the 2014 referendum being a "once-in-a-generation opportunity", although independence supporters say that was to emphasise the importance of the vote, not to rule out another one.

The UK government transferred the Scottish government the temporary powers it needed to hold that referendum after the SNP won a majority of seats in the 2011 Holyrood election.

Swinney's strategy for a similar approach was agreed at the SNP conference in October.

However, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said he could not imagine a second independence referendum taking place during his time in Downing Street.