Scottish Secretary urges First Minister to open up over independence

Michael Moore: Scottish Secretary has urged the First Minister to make the next move.

The Scottish Secretary has urged Alex Salmond to come to the table for talks on the independence referendum.

Michael Moore said he saw "no reason" why he and the First Minister could not agree how the crucial ballot should be held in the next couple of months.

On Monday, Scotland Office Minister David Mundell said it was "realistic and achievable" that a deal could be reached between the Scottish and UK governments by October.

The Scottish Secretary said on Tuesday progress on the matter had been made at talks between officials and ministers from the UK and Scottish governments.

But Mr Moore said: "At the end of the day, however, it is going to be the First Minister and I who will have to reach an agreement."

There are differences between the SNP administration at Holyrood and the coalition at Westminster over whether the referendum should be a straight choice between independence and remaining in the UK, or if voters should also be given the option of backing further powers for the Scottish Parliament.

The UK Government wants the ballot to focus on whether Scotland should stay in the UK or not - but the SNP administration has not ruled out the possibility of a "devo max" option, with Mr Salmond having previously said if there was "wide support" for this it was "only fair and democratic" that it should be included.

Both the Scottish and UK governments have carried out consultations on how the referendum should be staged, with Mr Moore saying the Scottish Government still had not produced their responses.

He added that the issues that need to be agreed on the referendum were "no secret" and said these had "not changed since January".

Mr Moore has now invited Mr Salmond to meet him to discuss the detail of the referendum process. The Scottish Secretary said: "I see no reason why we cannot sort this out in the next couple of months.

"The First Minister promised a referendum on independence. I promise that we will help him deliver a referendum on independence."

The Scottish Government has put forward plans to hold a vote on independence in autumn 2014, with its timetable including bringing forward a referendum Bill early next year.

As constitutional issues are reserved, a legal order known as a section 30 order could be used to temporarily extend Holyrood's powers to enable it to stage the referendum.

The UK Government believes to meet the SNP's referendum timetable the two governments must agree how the ballot will be staged by October. This should allow the section 30 order to be agreed by both the Scottish and UK parliaments, before then being approved by the Privy Council - a formal body of advisers to the Queen - in February.

A spokesman for Bruce Crawford, the Scottish Government's Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy Secretary said: "Mr Crawford and Mr Mundell had a constructive meeting on Monday and they plan to meet again hopefully later this month."

But he stated: "No final conclusions were reached on a timetable, further work needs to be done, and therefore we look forward to continuing the discussions."

The spokesman said the Scottish Government was still waiting for Mr Moore to distance himself from remarks made by the convener of Westminster's Scottish Affairs Committee, Ian Davidson, who said that "of course" the anti-independence parties would attach conditions to a section 30 order.

He added: "This is directly contradictory to Mr Moore's own statement in the House of Commons on January 10 that it is his task 'to ensure that this referendum is made in Scotland, by the people of Scotland, for the future of Scotland'.

"As we have always said, we have absolutely no objection to a section 30 order in regard to the autumn 2014 referendum, with no Westminster strings attached - which could be agreed very shortly."

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