Sturgeon talks with EU’s Barnier ‘weaponising Brexit for her own ends’

NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of trying to ‘weaponise’ Brexit by holding talks with the EU’s chief negotiator rather than backing the UK’s stance.

The SNP leader will today fly to Brussels for discussions with Michel Barnier, in what opponents see as an attempt to boost her own Scottish separatist agenda.

The Scottish Government, however, said the First Minister would use the trip to ‘ensure that the EU understands the key issues of concern for Scotland as the Brexit negotiations continue’.

Miss Sturgeon will also host a roundtable event with members of the business community in Brussels before she formally opens the expanded Scotland House base in the Belgian capital.

Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said: ‘This is Nicola Sturgeon’s latest attempt to weaponise Brexit. Rather than working with the UK Government to do a deal, she’s chosen to take a pointless trip to Brussels.

‘It’s becoming ever more obvious that Nicola Sturgeon wants to create a politithe cal crisis to justify her continued push for independence.

‘Instead of acting in Scotland’s best interests, the SNP is acting according to its own narrow political agenda.’

Brexit Secretary David Davis has been leading negotiations with Mr Barnier on behalf of the whole of the UK.

The Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations have been invited to feed into the discussions through regular meetings of the joint ministerial committee.

Relations between the Scottish Government and UK ministers hit a new low this month when the SNP refused to support the amended EU Withdrawal Bill, despite the Welsh Government giving its backing.

The UK and Scottish Governments are now set for a showdown in the Supreme Court to decide whether Holyrood has the power to press ahead with its own Brexit legislation.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: ‘I hope that Nicola Sturgeon uses her visit to Brussels to reflect on the damage caused by breaking up political unions.

‘The unfolding economic and social damage from Brexit is surely all the hard evidence we need to realise that breaking up political union of the UK is a bad idea.’

Miss Sturgeon said: ‘People and businesses are desperate for clarity on Brexit but with just months to go before the withdrawal agreement has to be signed, the UK Government still cannot agree a position.

‘This damaging uncertainty could come to an immediate end if only the UK Government would put jobs and living standards first and agree to continuing single market and customs union membership – for Scotland and the whole of the UK.

‘Whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, we are committed to continuing our collaboration, our friendship and our partnership with other European countries. Increasing our presence across the EU is a significant part of maintaining those relationships and the newly expanded Scotland House has a major part to play in representing Scotland across the whole of the EU.’

Scottish Labour Brexit spokesman Neil Findlay said: ‘The timing of this [visit], on the back of the SNP’s cuts commission, is unfortunate for the First Minister. Brexit simply shows how difficult it is to leave a political union – even one that is less integrated than the UK.

‘Rather than face a decade of brutal austerity and total uncertainty with independence, the people of Scotland want real change with a Labour government.’

‘She wants to create a political crisis’

NICOLA Sturgeon’s trip to Brussels today has the official goal of furthering our ‘friendship with other European countries’. But her meeting with EU negotiator Michel Barnier is also aimed at ensuring the EU ‘understands the key issues of concern for Scotland’ as Brexit talks continue. It comes amid a protracted and increasingly bitter row between the Scottish and UK Governments over an alleged Westminster ‘power grab’.

The Nationalists have refused to support the Bill outlining the terms of the EU Withdrawal Bill, which has the objective of turning EU law into UK law.

That dispute is in fact entirely artificial, as the Welsh Government has given the Bill its backing, and the SNP still favours EU membership for an independent Scotland – meaning the disputed powers would be handed back to Brussels in any event.

A mechanism already exists for the devolved administrations to feed into the negotiations led by Brexit Secretary David Davis, meaning Miss Sturgeon’s direct intervention with Mr Barnier is unnecessary.

Last week the SNP’s Growth Commission unveiled a blueprint for a separate Scotland that would have no control over major economic decisions and would face a decade of cuts, with up to £27billion slashed from public spending over ten years.

Yet prior to setting out for Brussels, Miss Sturgeon spoke out against the ‘damaging uncertainty’ of Brexit – apparently blind to the crippling ‘uncertainty’ of her own party’s ramshackle plan for independence.

She also outlined again her support for Scotland, and the whole of the UK, remaining in the single market, despite knowing that these options are simply not on the table.

In this context, the Scottish Tories are right to be concerned that Miss Sturgeon is attempting to ‘weaponise’ Brexit, and that her Brussels trip is intended to advance the SNP’s agenda to foment division over Brexit, as part of its eternal mission to break up the UK.

Wearied of such grandstanding, most voters would prefer the First Minister to set aside constitutional conflict and finally focus on the job she was elected to do – fixing our failing public services and bolstering the sluggish economy.