As a result of this Salmond now has the ability to call a referendum on Scottish independence.

At the first prime minister's questions of 2012, David Cameron accused SNP leader Alex Salmond of being afraid to call the referendum on Scottish independence, calling it a 'neverendum'.

David Cameron has accused the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond, of being reluctant to call a referendum on Scottish independence.

If, as polls predict, his coalition wins the election, he has said, he intends to call a referendum on independence for the summer.

Quebec's provincial opposition Parti Quebecois has said that if it prevails in provincial elections before the end of the year it will call a referendum on independence.

In 2000, Senator Paul Le Claire called for a referendum on independence, a proposal which failed to win any significant support.

- Cameron has accused Salmond of being afraid to call the referendum on Scottish independence.

In 1995, the PQ government called the second referendum on independence in Quebec history.

After the August 1991 coup attempt against the Gorbachev regime in Moscow, Turkmenistan's communist leader Saparmurat Niyazov called for a popular referendum on independence.

Mr. Chen also said today that unless the mainland attacked Taiwan, he would not call for a national referendum on independence, which his party has long sought but which China considers objectionable.