WORK WITH ALBA TO FORCE BOJO’S HAND
Waddya think of the show so far? Ruggish! Ex-SNP minister Neil in plea over IndyRef2 poll
NICOLA Sturgeon got to the root of the matter yesterday while examining a set of fake teeth and a toy dinosaur at a Scots dental clinic.
The First Minister paid a visit to Thornliebank Dental Care centre in Glasgow amid the ongoing election campaign.
As well as getting up close and personal with a set of pearly whites, she put on her gloves and closely examined the teeth of the “dentosaurus”.
Sturgeon’s party has vowed to scrap NHS dentistry charges as part of a massive £2.5billion funding boost.
OUTGOING SNP MSP Alex Neil has urged his party to work with Alex Salmond’s Alba Party to achieve a “supermajority” of MSPs in Holyrood in support of independence.
Neil, who served as a minister under Salmond, said yesterday that a supermajority is needed to “force Boris Johnson’s hand” on an independence vote.
The plea comes after the SNP unveiled its manifesto on Thursday, in which the party said a simple majority of independence supporting MSPs should be enough for another referendum to be held.
However, such a majority has existed in Holyrood since at least 2011, with the Greens helping the SNP over the line in the last parliamentary term.
Neil said: “Since 2016 the SNP and Scottish Green Party have, between them, had a pro-independence overall majority of nine in the Scottish Parliament.
“Despite that there has been zero progress during the past five years in bringing about a second independence referendum. We cannot allow that situation to continue for another five years. The experience of the last five years teaches us that a supermajority of pro-independence MSPs will be needed to force Boris Johnson’s hand on the constitutional question.
“Unfortunately, under the current system for electing the Scottish Parliament there is no realistic possibility of any one party winning such a supermajority by itself.
“To achieve a supermajority requires all the pro-independence parties working in partnership together.”
The SNP said: “It’s clear that only an SNP Government can deliver an independence referendum and give people in Scotland a choice on the country’s future, once the crisis of Covid has passed.
“The only safe way to ensure Nicola Sturgeon is re-elected as First Minister and that Scotland’s future lies in Scotland’s hands – not Boris Johnson’s – is to give both votes to the SNP on May 6.”