Michael Gove ‘absolutely’ rules out another Scottish independence referendum

There will not be another Scottish independence referendum under this government, despite the SNP winning 48 seats in the election, according to Michael Gove.

The prominent Conservative MP, who is considered to be a close advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, appeared on Sky News earlier today to rule out the second referendum.

He told Sophy Ridge: ‘In this general election, we have just seen what happens when politicians try to overturn a referendum result.

‘In the same way, we should respect the referendum result of 2014, Scotland is stronger in the United Kingdom, you can be proudly Scottish and proudly British together.’

He added: ‘The best of this country, the National Health Service, the BBC,  these are British institutions and therefore we should be proud of what we have achieved together and confident that the United Kingdom is a strong partnership that works in the interests of all.’

When asked if that was a guarantee that across the current Parliament, there would be no second independence referendum for Scotland, Mr Gove replied, ‘we are not going to have an independence referendum in Scotland’.

In the wide-ranging interview the senior cabinet member also insisted that the next phase of Brexit negotiations will be concluded by the end of 2020.

Mr Gove said that the discussions on the UK’s future relationship with the EU ‘will be concluded next year’.

He told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday: ‘Quite a lot of the details that we need to negotiate is already laid out in the political declaration, so a lot of work has been done.

‘And as a number of people have pointed out, there are areas where the European Union’s interests and the United Kingdom’s interests are already closely aligned, so I’m confident that we will be able not just to leave the EU on January 31 but also to conclude all the details of a new relationship in short order.’

He said he would not get into ‘speculation’ about whether the Withdrawal Agreement Bill will be brought back to the Commons before Christmas, but said it would be voted on in ‘relatively short order’ so it can be passed by January 31.