DAVID Cameron has urged Alex Salmond to dump plans for a two-question referendum before September, when the next round of talks on independence are due to take place.
• Cameron urges Salmond to stick with single-question referendum
• Concerns that process could drag on beyond October 2014 if referendum question decision is not made quickly enough
The Prime Minister was speaking during a visit to Glasgow today.
He is said to be ready to sign off on the powers the Scottish Parliament needs for a legally binding referendum in September.
However, he wants the procedural details are arranged by then, particularly “the need for a single question”.
Mr Cameron said: “Frankly, the Scottish people deserve a fair, decisive and legal referendum. We’ve made an offer to let that happen.
“The Scottish Secretary of State and the First Minister should be hammering out the details so I can meet Alex Salmond at the end of September, and then we can go on with a date and all the rest of it. It really shouldn’t be impossible to do this.
“All of the Scottish political parties from both campaigns want a one-question referendum. That’s what the Scottish people deserve. Let’s not let process get in the way of the outcome that the Scottish people deserve.”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said that he hopes “this further nudge” by the Prime Minister will compel Mr Salmond to get the process sorted out by early September.
The UK Government insists that an early question is vital to give Westminster time to pass the enabling legislation, known as a section 30 order, and hand Holyrood the power it needs to hold a legally binding referendum.
If agreement is not reached soon, some politicians say they fear that the process could drag on beyond Mr Salmond’s preferred date of October 2014.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “We just heard the Prime Minister say today that he’s ready to sign this off in September. So let’s get a move on to let Scotland know when (Alex Salmond’s) going to have his referendum and that the referendum will be fair, legal and binding, and that we know who’s going to vote, what the question is and that it will be a single question.
“I think people across Scotland are asking: what’s the hold up and who’s holding it up? At the moment the only roadblock to a referendum looks like it’s Alex Salmond.
“All of the political parties in Scotland agree that it should be a single question. Both of the campaigns Yes Scotland and Better Together, believe there should be single question.
“There are elements in process that need to be hammered out and the First Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland should be sitting down right now, making sure that these details are ironed out.”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: “Essentially, we have been waiting for the Scottish Government’s consultation process to be analysed. We think that there is the grounds there for concluding the process pretty swiftly, and it’s important that we get on with that.
“I hope with this further nudge we will get the chance to sit down early in September, work through the detail and get a resolution.
He insisted: “Everybody supports a single question. There’s large areas of agreement around the Electoral Commission, and there’s some other issues that we also want to talk about.
“Scotland is moving on to the substance of what we should do about our future, and we need to make sure that we get this process stuff done and dusted.
“We need to have agreement between the two governments to make a referendum on constitutional matters legal in Scotland.
“We believe there should be a single question. That’s how we make this whole process decisive.
“For well-rehearsed reasons, we don’t believe it’s right to mix independence with a second question on devolution. These are two very different processes, and two very different ideas.
“We need to resolve the issue of independence. That’s what the SNP wants to do, it’s what all of the other main parties want to do. We are offering a chance to get on and do that, and that’s what the Prime Minister has underlined today.”
A referendum “is perfectly do-able” within the timetable if an agreement can be reached “on a single question properly overseen by the Electoral Commission”, Mr Moore said.
“I don’t think there’s any reason for us to worry about this being delayed. We can get on and do it, and the Prime Minister is right to emphasise the need for speed, to resolve the details that stand between us, and that’s what I am keen that we do.”
Mr Cameron has pledged to discuss further devolution but only if Scotland votes No to independence.
Mr Moore, a Liberal Democrat MP who supports further devolution, said he has “absolute confidence” that the devolution debate will continue beyond the independence referendum.
“The central issue is that the Scottish Government won this historic election last year with a mandate to deliver a referendum on independence,” Mr Moore said.
“Uniquely, in the history of this kind of political development in any country, we’ve got the UK Government willing, able, ready and keen to work with the Scottish Government so we can have that legal, fair and decisive referendum.”