STURGEON IS STILL IN DENIAL

SNP Cabinet refuses to discuss removing referendum threat amid claims election did meet ‘triple lock’ mandate for new vote

NICOLA Sturgeon was last night accused of being ‘in denial’ about the result of the General Election.

It came after she refused to discuss whether to drop the threat of a second independence referendum with her Cabinet.

The SNP leader did not make any mention of her demand for a referendum when she chaired the first meeting of her ministerial team since last week’s election.

She is facing calls to abandon her quest for a rerun of the 2014 vote.

This follows her admission that opposition to independence was ‘undoubtedly’ a factor in the collapse of the SNP vote.

But her spokesman insisted after

the meeting in Edinburgh that the SNP had secured a ‘triple lock’ mandate to hold another referendum by winning a majority of seats in Scotland.

Every Scottish Tory MP yesterday signed a joint letter urging Miss Sturgeon to ‘face up to the reality’ of increasing opposition to separation and ‘give up’ on the idea of a second referendum vote.

MSPs will today debate an amendment calling on the Scottish Government to remove the uncertainty of a second referendum.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘We can only hope in the absence of any independence discussion, ministers instead addressed the Scottish Government’s terrible domestic record on devolved matters.

‘But the reality is, until Nicola Sturgeon takes the threat of another referendum off the table, no one will believe it’s not her priority.

‘Separation has been the centrepiece of her personal agenda and its absence from discussions at Cabinet is evidence of her complete denial on the issue.’

In last week’s election, the SNP lost 21 of the seats it had won in 2015 amid a backlash against its relentless separation crusade.

The day after the vote, Miss Sturgeon conceded that her referendum demands were ‘undoubtedly’ a factor in the slump in support for her party, which led to party heavyweights including former First Minister Alex Salmond and deputy leader Angus Robertson losing their seats.

She pledged to take time to ‘reflect’ on the issue rather than taking another vote off the table.

Former health secretary Alex Neil, ex-communities minister Marco Biagi and former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars have all called for the immediate threat of an independence referendum to be abandoned.

But Miss Sturgeon’s official spokesman said the issue was not discussed when the Cabinet met for the first time since the election yesterday.

He added: ‘There was a discussion on the outcome of the election in relation to Brexit but there was no specific stuff on the [independence] referendum.’

Before the election, the SNP manifesto had claimed the party would secure a ‘triple lock’ mandate on its demand for another referendum if it secured a majority of seats.

Asked if he felt the ‘triple lock’ mandate had been achieved, Miss Sturgeon’s spokesman said: ‘That is the outcome of the election, quite clearly.

‘The conditions set out in the manifesto have been met but in terms of how things are taken forward, I’m not going to pre-empt anything the First Minister will say and I will allow her to be the person who takes [that] forward.’

MSPs will try to get the Government to rule out a second referendum during a debate on the economy at Holyrood today.

It is understood the Lib Dems had called for a debate on removing the threat of another referendum to take place today.

But their demand was rejected by the SNP at a meeting of the Scottish parliament’s business bureau.

However, opposition parties have tabled a series of amendments on the issue, which will be discussed during the Government’s economy debate today.

A Tory amendment says the economy can be boosted by ‘removing the uncertainty of a second referendum on independence’, while a Labour amendment says that the SNP’s ‘continued priority’ of a vote on independence creates uncertainty and calls for it to ‘abandon its plans for a second independence referendum’.

Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: ‘The SNP lost more votes and more MPs than any other UK party.’

He added: ‘But Nicola Sturgeon insults voters by not even holding a Cabinet discussion on independence – the very reason for that decline.

‘It is arrogant and absurd that the SNP leader thinks losing 13 per cent of the vote and 21 MPs, including the former First Minister and deputy leader, is an endorsement of her plans for independence.’

Scottish Labour business manager James Kelly said: ‘Independence has become the elephant in the room for Nicola Sturgeon. We want the Scottish Cabinet focused on jobs, schools and hospitals – but it is staggering that ministers did not discuss dropping a referendum, given Thursday’s result.’

At Westminster yesterday, Scottish Secretary David Mundell and his 12 new Scottish Conservative MP colleagues issued a joint statement demanding that another referendum be taken off the table.

The joint statement says: ‘The prospect of a second referendum alarmed the majority of Scots who do not want to face another painful period of upheaval and division.

‘She asked them to vote on it – and the SNP lost 21 seats and half a million votes. It was a damning verdict.

‘Unless we present a united front to the EU, Nicola Sturgeon will disrupt our negotiations. And unless she gets back to the day job, Scotland will continue to pay a high price.

‘So she needs to end her denial, listen to what the people of Scotland have said and face up to the reality. She needs to look the Scottish people in the eye and tell them she has given up on a second independence referendum.

‘Unless and until she does, she is putting her party ahead of her country – and we will not stand for it.’

Mr Mundell also pledged that the UK Government will not discuss the idea of a second independence referendum during the lifetime of this parliament.

‘Arrogant and absurd’

‘She needs to face up to reality’

GIVEN that on election night the SNP haemorrhaged 476,867 votes and 21 MPs, including big guns such as Alex Salmond, the reasons why should have been top of the party agenda.

But jaw-droppingly, Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet did not discuss its second independence referendum plan, the flagship policy and something even Miss Sturgeon conceded was ‘a factor’ in a disastrous campaign.

There are two conclusions about the ability of the party hierarchy to ignore the elephant in the room.

The first is that they are in denial. Reeling from another rejection of their raison d’etre, they carry on as though nothing has changed. But changed it has, and changed utterly.

While Miss Sturgeon was stranded outside the Commons with her rump of MPs, many with wafer-thin majorities, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was inside at the heart of the action.

While Miss Sturgeon was trying to bat away awkward questions, Miss Davidson was one-to-one with the Prime Minister, delivering Scotland’s Brexit message right to the centre of power.

The second conclusion is that the SNP has still not grasped that an independence monomania, coupled with a serious lack of competence over basic governance, is hurting them.

Can it really be that the Cabinet is so utterly hopeless it cannot be trusted to discuss the No.1 problem facing the Nationalists?

Or is it the case that Miss Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, SNP chief executive, are the only two allowed to have a view? Did they, after a big week, kick back over a bottle of wine and a TV box set at the weekend and simply not get round to Indyref 2?

When Miss Sturgeon said she would ‘reflect’ on the election result and report back on the referendum, did she mean she and her husband would get their heads together and issue the Cabinet with their opinion later?

All around are signs that the Nationalists are flailing.

Alex Neil, ex-health secretary, says a second independence referendum should be put on hold; former rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead called on his party to show the public they are listening; former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill says the party needs more voices at the top.

Instead of any of the above, we have luminaries such as unseated MP George Kerevan ludicrously claiming the party needs to double down on its independence push.

We have Rona Mackay MSP trying to blame the media for the terrifying decline in literacy and numeracy skills in schools.

And Miss Sturgeon’s spokesman, in the face of the evidence that piled up in ballot boxes from Caithness to Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday, claimed yesterday the SNP has a ‘triple lock’ mandate on a second referendum.

This is based on a Holyrood election in which the SNP lost its majority; a vote in the Scottish parliament that backed another referendum (but which needed the supine Greens to limp over the line); and now Thursday’s disastrous election.

How long Miss Sturgeon can turn a deaf ear to the voices of dissent in her own party is a matter for them.

But it is clear that the message sent by Scots on Thursday – forget the Indyref 2 plans – simply cannot be ignored.