Nigel Farage suggests Scottish independence referendum could take place in 2030s - Daily Record

The Reform UK leader said an IndyRef2 could be "reexamined" in the "decades to come".

Nigel Farage has suggested a second referendum on independence could take place as soon as the 2030s.

Speaking at a press conference in Kirkcaldy today, the Reform UK leader said an IndyRef2 was "not on the cards", but added: "Maybe in decades to come, it can be reexamined."

Farage faced the press in Fife after he announced Malcolm Offord as his hand-picked choice to become Reform's first dedicated leader in Scotland.

It comes as a new poll suggests the party is neck-and-neck with Scottish Labour for second place in the Holyrood election race.

First Minister John Swinney, whose party remains out in front in the polls, has repeatedly said that if the SNP wins a majority of MSPs in May it would act as a mandate for a second referendum.

Asked about the prospect of an IndyRef2, Farage told reporters: "A referendum on separation is not on the cards. It's not going to be granted by Westminster. It's not uppermost in the minds of Scottish voters.

"We think it would be a highly unnecessary distraction at this stage. If that referendum, that Salmond and others said, was a once in a generation opportunity, well maybe in decades to come, it can be reexamined - but I doubt it."

Offord said: "There is no appetite for a referendum. This is what people are fed-up with. For 25 years, Holyrood has been dominated by the constitutional question, and spend, spend, spend. It needs to change."

Pressed by the Record on whether a referendum could be granted by a Reform government at Westminster, Farage added: "I'm just saying to you, it's a once in a generational decision. That was what was agreed - both for a Brexit referendum and the separation referendum in Scotland.

"The odd thing is the SNP have not accepted either of those results."

Farage added: "Look, whatever way we cut it, it's a very long way in the distance, it's not something of immediacy - there are other major threats faced by Scotland, and frankly by the world."

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