{"id":766110,"date":"2026-09-10T11:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T11:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766110\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T11:54:10","slug":"john-swinney-reacts-to-andy-burnham-laying-out-conditions-for-indyref2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/766110\/","title":{"rendered":"John Swinney reacts to Andy Burnham laying out conditions for indyref2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Speaking at PMQs<\/a> on Wednesday, Burnham said that the rules governing when a repeat of the 2014 vote can be held should be \u201cexactly the same\u201d as those for an Irish reunification referendum.\n<\/p>\n

\n He made the comment when questioned on the Good Friday Agreement by SNP<\/a> MP Chris Law. The agreement states that the UK Northern Ireland Secretary \u201cshall\u201d call a referendum on Irish reunification if it looks likely that the people would vote in support.\n<\/p>\n

\n Writing on social media, John Swinney<\/a> said: “To go from ‘off limits’ to this is an acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future \u2013 not the UK Government.\n<\/p>\n

\n “For the first time since 2014, a British Prime Minister accepts that majority support for a referendum should mean one takes place.”\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Andy Burnham urged to rule out ‘anti-devolution power grab’ over Scottish Government<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n SNP<\/a> MP Pete Wishart<\/a> also welcomed Burnham’s comments, saying: “Very important response to Chris Law’s question @PMQs<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n “For the first time the UK Gov has set out the conditions for an indyref. The Prime Minister says it would be the same as NI and would be dependent upon the securing of a majority in support.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Real progress, at last.”\n<\/p>\n

\n At Prime Minister\u2019s Questions, SNP MP Law had said: \u201cIn response to my question last week, the Prime Minister stated that he is now very aware of every word in the Good Friday Agreement and will stick to it 100% as Prime Minister.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo he will therefore know that the Northern Ireland Act contains a provision for a referendum on leaving the United Kingdom, but no equivalent provision exists within the law for Scotland.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cDoes the Prime Minister recognise the people of Scotland have the same right, the equal right to choose their own future, and that the conditions for a second independence referendum should be set out in law?\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Burnham responded: \u201cHe mentions the Good Friday Agreement, and I will stick to it 100%.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd I would also remind him on that question of a border poll, it is to be considered by the Northern Ireland Secretary when there is a clear consensus in the country, when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI would say exactly the same situation in Scotland.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Burnham then added: \u201cI am not aware that there is a majority of public support for another referendum, and until that changes, Mr Speaker, there won’t be one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaking at PMQs on Wednesday, Burnham said that the rules governing when a repeat of the 2014 vote…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-766110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}