May vs Sturgeon IndyRef Round 2
Prime Minister and First Minister set to lock horns over timing of a second vote on independence
THERESA MAY and Nicola Sturgeon are to meet face to face today for the first time since their fallout over the timing of a second independence referendum.
The leaders are due to hold what could be frosty bilateral talks after May meets senior police officers in Scotland to discuss security after the Westminster terror attack.
The summit comes on the eve of Holyrood continuing their delayed debate and vote on a second Scottish referendum and just two days before the PM is expected to trigger Article 50, formally signing the UK’s departure from the European Union.
May arrives in Scotland as part of her tour of the UK ahead of triggering Brexit and armed with a determination not to bow to SNP demands for a 2018 referendum.
She will use a speech ahead of her meeting with Sturgeon to state she believes in “fully respecting, and indeed strengthening, the devolution settlements but never allowing our Union to become looser and weaker, or our people to drift apart.” The words are the strongest sign yet that the Prime Minister is set to push Sturgeon’s plans for an independence vote beyond 2021 and the next Scottish Parliament elections.
Sturgeon has ferociously attacked May’s refusal to grant a second referendum at the time of the SNP’s choosing, accusing the PM of a of “condescension and inflexibility”.
But May will use a speech to staff at the East Kilbride base of the Department for International Development to outline her resolve to stand down Sturgeon’s bid for a second referendum.
She will say she wants a Brexit deal that “must work for all nations of the UK, and the UK as a whole”.
The PM will say: “It says we are a kind and generous country. It says we are a big country that will never let down, or turn our back on, those in need.”
Turning to independence, she will add: “It says this: That when this great union of nations – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – sets its mind on something and works together with determination, we are an unstoppable force.”
A spokesman for the First Minister said she was looking forward to discussing the security situation.
He added: “Given we are days from the formal process of Brexit being triggered there have, as yet, been no discussion with the Scottish Government over what will be in the letter triggering departure from the EU.
“There has been no discussion of how Scotland’s interests will be represented, what role the Scottish Government will play in negotiations, nor which powers the Tories intend to take for Westminster and which powers will rightly be determined by Holyrood.
“Most worryingly, there has been no discussion over how the UK Government intends to manage the financial impacts of Brexit. There are clearly a lot of areas where we hope the Prime Minister intends to provide answers.”