General Election 2015: Scottish independence referendum will be the 'first line' of next year's SNP manifesto, says former deputy leader

Former SNP MP Jim Sillars says party is 'bound' to include the pledge

Jim Sillars played a prominent role in the Yes campaign in favour of independence (Getty Images)

The promise of another referendum on Scottish independence will in the “first line” of the SNP’s manifesto next year, the party’s former deputy leader has said.

Jim Sillars said the party would be “bound” to include the commitment in its Holyrood manifesto, in recognition of the thousands of people who joined the party in the wake of the referendum. Its membership now stands at more than 105,000.

The former SNP MP, who last year played a prominent role in the Yes campaign in favour of independence, added that there should be no “timetable” attached to the promise to allow the party to hold a referendum “when it suits us”.

“I can’t see a membership of 100,000 which came in on the independence issue not demanding that in the manifesto,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “It would be astonishing if you joined the SNP because you desire independence as soon as you can possibly get it and not expect it to be in the manifesto.”

Nicola Sturgeon, who has repeatedly said during the general election campaign that she has “no plans” to call another referendum on Scottish independence, played down Mr Sillars’ comments at First Minister’s Questions.

“I’ve got the greatest of respect for Jim Sillars but the clue is in his title: former deputy leader of the SNP,” she said. “I’m the current leader of the SNP so let me say it clearly once again: this election is not about independence. It’s not about a referendum. It’s about making Scotland’s voice heard.”

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Replying to a series of questions on the issue from Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Kezia Dugdale, Ms Sturgeon described her political opponents’ warnings about the dangers of another referendum as “desperate scaremongering” by a party in its “death throes”.

The SNP leader added that a manifesto pledge for another independence referendum did not guarantee that one would happen. “If the SNP ever does propose in a manifesto a second referendum that, in and of itself, does not bring about a referendum,” she said.

“People in Scotland first have to vote for that manifesto and give the SNP sufficient numbers in this parliament to get the legislation through. That’s democracy.”

Polls suggest that Labour is heading for a wipeout in Scotland on 7 May at the hands of the SNP, which could win as many as 50 of its 59 Westminster seats. Ms Sturgeon has embarked on a helicopter tour, aiming to visit the “four corners” of the country.