David Cameron: No more votes on Scottish independence

David Cameron’s comments came hours after Nicola Sturgeon refused to rule out a second vote on efforts to break up the UK, despite last year’s overwhelming No victory.

As new research revealed that Scots have benefited the most under the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition, a BBC Scotland poll showed that independence is not the number one issue for the country’s voters.

Asked about the ongoing Scottish independence issue last night, Mr Cameron said: “I believe it’s settled. I quote Alex Salmond – settled for a generation, possibly for a lifetime, is what he said. And I’m sticking with that.

“I think there was a very big debate in Scotland, a very big moment, a very big turnout. But it was pretty decisive, a 10-point margin is pretty decisive.”

Pressed on whether he would feel bound to accept a second referendum if the SNP won next year’s Scottish elections, Mr Cameron simply replied: “That issue is settled.”

Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon again refused to rule out putting another referendum in the SNP’s 2016 Holyrood election manifesto.

Speaking ahead of the BBC leaders’ debate in Aberdeen, she said: “I cannot force a referendum on the people against their will.

It’s entirely up to the Scottish people.”

An SNP spokesman said: “As the First Minister has made clear, it is the people of Scotland – not David Cameron or any other politician – who will decide when any future referendum on independence might be. The General Election is not about independence – it is about electing a strong team of SNP MPs to stand up for Scotland’s interests at Westminster.”

But Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservative constitutional affairs spokeswoman, said: “It is crystal clear every vote for the SNP takes us closer to another referendum.”

Meanwhile, statistics revealed yesterday showed that Scots households are £400 a year better off under the Tory-led coalition than they were before the global financial crash and recession that followed.

The country’s increase in living standards is the fourth highest out of the 12 UK nations and regions, according to the new figures from the Resolution Foundation.

According to the report, Scotland’s strong performance is partly explained by its healthy jobs recovery – its employment rate has grown by four per cent in the last two years. 

Also it has witnessed a relatively shallow pay squeeze, unlike some other parts of Britain, with typical hourly wages falling by 6.4 per cent between 2009 and 2014, compared to a UK-wide average of 9.3 per cent.

The average household income in 2014 across Scotland was £23,000, while in the UK as a whole, incomes were £105 a year lower, with people living in the affluent South East of England typically £921 worse off.

In contrast, the average income in the post-industrial North East of England rose by £794 over the period.

Just before the economic crash typical household incomes across Scotland were £22,583 but they are now closer to £23,000 a year. 

Living standards initially increased, before falling quite sharply in 2010-11 as the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government began to cut back on public spending, or so-called austerity.

Incomes then remained broadly flat for a couple of years but have grown since 2012-13.

And by last year they were £424 higher than pre-downturn levels, with further increases expected in the coming year too.

Yesterday, Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at Resolution Foundation, said: “Households in Scotland have experienced a very different kind of downturn to the rest of the UK with a shortfall in living standards in 2011 and flat or gently increasing household incomes since.”

Scottish Tory welfare reform spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “The economic decisions made by our party over recent years are working for Scotland, as this report makes clear.

There are tens of thousands more jobs, more businesses and, crucially, ­significantly fewer people on Job Seeker’s Allowance.”