Theresa May is reportedly preparing for a second Scottish independence referendum in 2018.
It is understood that the Prime Minister believes Nicola Sturgeon will call for a second referendum vote in August next year and is already preparing a campaign strategy.
The Courier reported that Downing Street is currently working with the Scottish Conservatives to arrange key meetings with the SNP to 'lay the foundations' for a second referendum.
Read more: Video - Tories to block Nicola Sturgeon's bid for second independence referendum
A Scottish Conservative insider told the Courier that the preparations were being put in place to ensure the Tories are 'prepared' and 'calm and collected ahead of any negotiations'.
Downing Street sources stated that Ms Sturgeon would need agreement from Westminister to hold a second referendum but confirmed that 'contingency' talks are taking place.
The First Minister said that she would decide whether to hold a second referendum in the coming weeks after Ms May promised to follow a 'hard' Brexit that will take the UK out of the European Single Market.
However, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said last week that the UK Government could block Holyrood from holding a new vote on independence.
Read more: Video - Tories to block Nicola Sturgeon's bid for second independence referendum
He told The Herald that Ms Sturgeon did not have a mandate to stage another independence vote and could 'forget it'.
Scots voted to 45 per cent to 55 per cent to remain in the UK during the first independence referendum in September 2014.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel