Nicola Sturgeon uses Tory leadership election to make ANOTHER push for an independence referendum next year claiming the winner will be ‘another prime minister Scotland hasn’t voted for’
- Sturgeon said Tory winner would be ‘another PM Scotland hasn’t voted for’
- Launched a paper designed to put forward a ‘refreshed’ case for independence
- SNP leader is demanding a new vote next year, 9 years after Scotland voted No
Nicola Sturgeon tore into the Tory leadership hopefuls today as she attempted to put forward a new case for a new Scottish independence referendum.
The First Minister claimed that whoever won the protracted race to replace Boris Johnson would be ‘another prime minister Scotland hasn’t voted for’.
It came as she launched the second in a series of papers designed to put forward a ‘refreshed’ case for independence.
The SNP leader is demanding a new vote next year, just nine years after Scotland voted to remain in the UK in a once-in-a-generation plebiscite, but Boris Johnson has refused to grant it.
Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘We may be just a few days into this Tory leadership contest but it is already crystal clear the issues Scotland is focused on – tackling child poverty, supporting NHS recovery, building a fairer economy and making a just transition to net zero -will be hindered not helped by who ever becomes prime minister in the weeks ahead.’
The First Minister claimed that whoever won the protracted race to replace Boris Johnson would be ‘another prime minister Scotland hasn’t voted for’.
Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘We may be just a few days into this Tory leadership contest but it is already crystal clear the issues Scotland is focused on … will be hindered not helped by who ever becomes prime minister in the weeks ahead.’
Voters in Scotland have ‘repeatedly’ returned a majority of MSPs who support independence, Ms Sturgeon added, saying this was ‘treated as immaterial’ by Westminster.
Voters in Scotland have ‘repeatedly’ returned a majority of MSPs who support independence, Ms Sturgeon added, saying this was ‘treated as immaterial’ by Westminster.
‘You don’t have to be a supporter of independence to know that that is not democracy,’ she added.
The new paper published by the Scottish Government, as part of the Building a Better Scotland series, focuses on democracy, Ms Sturgeon said.
Speaking to journalists at Bute House, her official residence in the Scottish capital, she said it ‘exposes the the significant and increasing democratic deficit Scotland suffers as part of the union’.
The First Minister insisted: ‘Only independence can strengthen and embed democracy in Scotland, and so provide a secure foundation from which to overcome challenges and fulfil our potential.’
However, she added: ‘The change of Tory leader seems virtually certain to be accompanied by a shift even further to the right.
‘That means a shift even further away from the mainstream of Scottish opinion and values.’
She raised the prospect the contest to replace Mr Johnson as PM could result in a ‘race to the bottom on tax, cuts to public services and support for families, more posturing over Brexit hurting businesses and trade’ as well as the ‘abandonment of the fight against climate change’.
But Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘So far the SNP’s case for independence amounts to a cocktail of wishful thinking and fearmongering.
‘Bills are soaring, NHS waiting lists are spiralling and trains are barely running – but Scotland has two governments ignoring these issues to stoke division, play political games, and make impossible promises.’
Last week Ms Sturgeon revealed Boris Johnson had rejected her demand for a new vote.
She released a letter from the PM in which he refused to agree that ‘now is the time’.
Scotland’s First Minister took to Twitter to share her correspondence with the embattled Prime Minister, who wrote to her to say now was not the time to consider another poll on Scottish independence.
In his letter to Nicola Sturgeon, shared by the Scottish First Minister on Twitter, Mr Johnson said it was not the time to consider another independence referendum.
The PM faced further calls to quit and a barrage of criticism as he desperately tries to cling on despite a swathe of ministers resigning and even loyalists turning on him.
Urging a foothold of unity, Mr Johnson highlighted the ‘shared priorities’ of both Governments in tackling the cost-of-living crisis, the Ukraine war and Covid-19.
He wrote: ‘I have carefully considered the arguments you set out for a transfer of power from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament to hold another referendum on independence.
‘As our country faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, I cannot agree that now is the time to return to a question, which was clearly answered by the people of Scotland in 2014.
‘Our shared priorities must be to respond effectively to the global cost of living challenge, to support our NHS and public services as they recover from the huge disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to play our leading part in the international response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
‘These are common challenges across the United Kingdom, which deserve our full attention.’
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