Kenny MacAskill warns against 'headlong rush' to second indy ref

credit - Holyrood

Scotland’s former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has warned against a "headlong rush" into a second independence referendum.

The former SNP cabinet minister said the Brexit vote left too many questions that his party still had to answer.

His remarks in a newspaper article came after another former SNP cabinet minister Alex Neil warned against holding a second independence referendum in the near future, arguing “we must not allow ourselves to be stampeded into holding a second referendum which is premature and unnecessarily risky”

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MacAskill stressed that he was still committed to the cause of independence, but argued that Scottish history was "littered with headlong rushes to disaster".

He said: "As with Highland charges it's not the passion of the participants that's in doubt, but the wisdom of the tactic.

"Scottish success, whether on the battle or sporting field, has come through more cerebral actions, not rushes of blood to the head.

"Glorious defeat would put the dream back catastrophically, even if some enjoyed the journey. Wiser counsel must prevail."

MacAskill, who stood down as an MSP ahead of May’s election, said the unanswered questions left by the Brexit vote included: "Would we be in the EU, would there be a hard border and what would the currency be?"

He said: "None of those can be answered but would be questions being asked. Some clarity on them is needed."

MacAskill served as Scotland’s Justice Secretary from 2007 until 2014 and was an MSP from 1999 until this year.

He said: "The SNP would be wiser to be working on the answers to critical questions that cost victory in the last referendum. It should also be working in and cherishing the constituencies won in its wake.

"As Mel Gibson shouted to the Scottish ranks in the movie Braveheart: "Hold". It's about timing and tactics."