Nicola Sturgeon claims Margaret Thatcher ‘would have agreed to fresh Scottish independence vote’ as First Minister prepares to lay out plan to force second referendum
- Nicola Sturgeon is set to outline her plans for second independence referendum
- The Scottish First Minister wants a new vote to be held in October next year
- She hits out at Boris Johnson of trying to deny the ‘democratic right’ of Scots
- The SNP leader suggests past Tory leaders would have approved a second poll
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested ex-Tory leaders such as Margaret Thatcher would have granted a second Scottish independence referendum as she continued her battle for a new vote.
The First Minister took a fresh swipe at Boris Johnson as she accused his Government of ‘taking a wrecking ball to the idea of the UK as a voluntary partnership of nations’.
The SNP leader will tomorrow outline her plans to hold a second independence referendum to the Scottish Parliament.
Ms Sturgeon is planning for a vote in October next year, but the Prime Minister has shown little indication he would be willing to approve a new poll.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly told Ms Sturgeon that an independence vote should be a ‘once-in-a-generation’ event, after the 2014 referendum saw Scottish voters decide to remain part of the UK.
Ahead of that vote eight years ago, former PM David Cameron granted a Section 30 order to the Scottish Government to allow the vote to be held.
Ms Sturgeon has been warned, without similarly being granted a Section 30 order by Westmininster, any second independence referendum would be declared illegal.
Nicola Sturgeon will tomorrow outline her plans to hold a second independence referendum to the Scottish Parliament
The First Minister suggested ex-Tory leaders such as Margaret Thatcher, pictured in 2009, would have granted a second Scottish independence referendum
Ahead of statement to the Scottish Parliament tomorrow, the First Minister accused Mr Johnson of trying to deny the ‘democratic right’ of people in Scotland to decide on their country’s future.
‘Westminster is taking a wrecking ball to the idea of the United Kingdom as a voluntary partnership of nations,’ she said.
‘A Tory government with just six MPs from Scotland, supported on this issue by Labour, is seeking to deny the democratic right of the people of Scotland to choose their own future.
‘In doing so, they are demonstrating beyond doubt that, in place of a voluntary partnership, they believe the UK is instead defined by Westminster control.
‘The case for a referendum is therefore now as much a Scottish democracy movement as a Scottish independence movement.’
Ms Sturgeon suggested that Mr Johnson’s predecessors as Tory leader would have approved a second referendum.
‘Even previous Tory leaders, from Margaret Thatcher to Theresa May, said they believed the UK was based on the consent of the people who lived in its constituent nations,’ she added.
‘It is time for Boris Johnson and (Labour leader) Keir Starmer to respect, not rubbish, the wishes of the people of Scotland and their democratically elected government.
‘And to respect the pledge their parties signed after the 2014 referendum, promising that nothing prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose.
‘For 70 per cent of the time since 1979, Scotland has been governed by a Tory government we didn’t elect. Enough is enough.
‘It’s time to restore basic democracy in Scotland to ensure people get the governments they vote for, and through independence to build a proper partnership of equals between Scotland and our friends in the rest of the United Kingdom.’
Boris Johnson, pictured at the G7 summit in Germany, has shown little indication he would be willing to approve a new vote
UK Cabinet minister George Eustice dismissed Ms Sturgeon’s suggestion that Thatcher would have accepted her demands for a second referendum.
‘I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think we should have a second referendum,’ the Environment Secretary told Sky News.
‘We had a referendum not long ago, just in 2014. It gave a clear result, and I think the really important thing is there’s bigger issues that we need to work on.
‘We’ve got all of these global pressures as we’re coming out of the pandemic. That’s what we should be focused on.
‘There’s too much else going on in the world at the moment to be having another referendum.’
Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray accused Ms Sturgeon of ‘a transparent attempt to whip up division and distract from the chaos engulfing the SNP’.
He said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon is in no position to lecture anyone about listening to the people of Scotland, as she ignores the cost-of-living crisis hanging over people’s lives and ploughs ahead with a costly, unwanted and damaging referendum.
‘The reality is the Tories and the SNP are working hand in hand to tear communities apart in a bid to distract from their own failures.’
Source: Read Full Article
