More power for Scots – but SNP still furious
‘Not time to focus on second referendum’
MORE powers will be devolved to Scotland in the wake of Brexit, Theresa May pledged yesterday.
But Scottish Nationalists insisted expanding Holyrood’s power was still not enough, and claimed independence was now ‘inevitable’.
The Prime Minister provoked a fierce backlash from SNP MPs as she compared Scotland to her Maidenhead constituency, which is also leaving the EU despite voting Remain.
Commons Speaker John Bercow was forced to repeatedly interrupt proceedings to castigate the SNP benches who he accused of ‘unseemly heckling’.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson told the Commons: ‘The Prime Minister says that she thinks Brexit will bring unity to the United Kingdom, it will not.
‘On this issue it is not a United Kingdom and the Prime Minister needs to respect the differences across the nations of the United Kingdom.
‘If she does not, if she remains intransigent, and if she denies Scotland a choice on our future, she will make Scottish independence inevitable.’
After Mr Robertson noted that 62 per cent of Scots voted against Brexit, Mrs May said: ‘My constituency voted to remain in the European Union. The point is that we are one United Kingdom and it was a vote of the whole United Kingdom.’
Downing Street strategists hope the offer of more powers to Scotland will derail Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to break up the Union. Pro-Union politicians – who spanned all parties south of the border at the 2014 Scottish referendum – hope the vow to bolster Holyrood’s remit will ease pressure to stage a Scottish referendum before Brexit is sealed. It may also help persuade Scottish voters it is unnecessary to leave the UK.
And even if a referendum takes place before Brexit is complete, the promise of more powers could deter Scots voters from taking a leap into the unknown.
But angry SNP MPs lined up to heckle Mrs May and criticise her comparison to her Berkshire constituency.
Tommy Sheppard said: ‘Shocking disrespect from Theresa May as she compares Scotland with her constituency – so much for equal partners in the UK.’
Mr Bercow demanded the SNP calm down several times. He told Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry: ‘This is very unseemly heckling. You are a distinguished QC, you wouldn’t behave like that in the Scottish courts – you’d be chucked out.’ Mrs May last night said she would not even begin discussions with the Scottish government on holding a second independence referendum. In her BBC One interview with Andrew Neil, she said: ‘Now is not the time to focus on a second independence referendum or to be looking at that second independence referendum, because – for two reasons: now is the time when we need to pull together as a United Kingdom. We need to be talking about how we can work together to get the best possible deal for everybody across the whole of the United Kingdom.’ In her Article 50 letter delivered to European Council President Donald Tusk, Mrs May promised Holyrood would get a ‘ significant increase’ in powers. She wrote: ‘When it comes to the return of powers back to the United Kingdom, we will consult fully on which powers should reside in Westminster and which should be devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But it is the expectation of the Government that the outcome of this process will be a significant increase in the decisionmaking power of each devolved administration.’ But the SNP accused Mrs May of breaking a promise to forge a ‘ UK- wide approach’ to Brexit before triggering Article 50. Mr Robertson said: ‘Today the Prime Minister has triggered Article 50, and she has done so without an agreement. There is no agreement. Why has she broken her word and her commitment?’
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: ‘Today, the PM will take the UK over a cliff with no idea of the landing place. Scotland didn’t vote for it and our voice has been ignored.’