Jackie Baillie has hit out at the SNP after their Leader refused to rule out a second referendum on independence during this week’s televised election debate.

Nicola Sturgeon refused to rule out another vote on separation over the next five years despite promising repeatedly during 2014 that the referendum was a ‘once in a lifetime’ event. The SNP Leader also announced at her recent party conference that she would launch a new campaign for independence this year.

Jackie said it was time to move on from the constitutional debate and that Scottish Labour’s manifesto will contain a specific commitment to rule out another referendum.

Jackie said:

“This election should be about how we can use the new powers coming to Scotland to improve our schools, health service and economy but instead the SNP want to re-run the arguments of the past to distract from their poor record in government. Nicola Sturgeon should stick to her promise that the referendum was a ‘once in a lifetime’ event.

“The economic case for independence is now in tatters following the collapse of the oil price and the crisis in the North Sea. There could not be a worse time for the SNP to launch a new campaign for separation.

“That’s why Scottish Labour has specifically ruled out a second referendum in our manifesto. We will let others bang on about the arguments from two years ago. Most of us don’t want to go over all that again and again. We’ll talk about the future because people want to see what we will do with our new powers