Brexmas election
Carlaw calls on voters to halt stitch-up between SNP and Labour
‘This election is a crossroads’
THERE are only ten days left to save the Union as Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn are ‘stitching up’ a deal for another independence vote, the Tories warn today.
Jackson Carlaw has issued a rallying cry over the future of the UK, saying no one should doubt that the Union is ‘on the ballot paper’.
The Scottish Conservative leader said he would ‘step up the pace’ in his campaigning ahead of December 12 – and urged Scots to ‘lend’ the Tories their vote to lock the SNP out of seats across Scotland.
Miss Sturgeon has put a second independence referendum at the ‘heart’ of her General Election campaign. The First
Minister is demanding the power to hold a Scexit vote next year, however, Boris Johnson has ruled this out.
The Prime Minister has pledged that if he is returned to Downing Street, there will be no rerun of the 2014 vote under his government.
In order to hold a legally binding referendum, the UK Government must grant the Scottish Government a Section 30 order.
However, Miss Sturgeon has said that she will work to help a minority Labour government into power in the event of a hung parliament – if Mr Corbyn allows her to hold a referendum next year.
The Labour leader has signalled he would grant another divisive vote after the next Holyrood election – if there is a pro-independence majority.
And he suggested this could happen within three years of a Labour government. Speaking with only ten days until the polls open, Mr Carlaw said: ‘What is clear for voters in Scotland is that the Union will be on the ballot paper.
‘Nicola Sturgeon has calculated that next year is her best chance to get a referendum on independence. And if Jeremy Corbyn is standing outside No10 on December 13, she knows she will be pushing at an open door.
‘Only by voting Scottish Conservative can people stop Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn stitching up a deal to take us back to more division. That’s why, over the next ten days, Scottish Conservatives are going to step up the pace, to urge people to lend us your vote.
‘Voters in Scotland have a chance on December 12 to make Nicola Sturgeon listen. Make your voice heard, and vote Scottish Conservative.’
Yesterday a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times revealed that the SNP faces the prospect of missing out on a pro-independence majority after the next Holyrood election.
The survey revealed that Miss Sturgeon will fall short of forming a majority, with the Greens failing to boost the Nationalist numbers in the Scottish Parliament.
The survey puts the SNP on 43 per cent, followed by the Conservatives on 26 per cent, Labour on 17 per cent, the Lib Dems on 9 per cent and the Greens on 6 per cent.
According to polling expert Sir John Curtice, this would leave the SNP with 60 Holyrood seats and the Greens with four – one seat short of a pro-independence majority. The Conservatives would finish with 35 seats, Labour with 21 and the Lib Dems on nine.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: ‘This election is a crossroads for Scotland, it is a choice, whether Scotland will have a choice to escape Brexit and set our own path. For us in the SNP, we believe that Scotland should have that say, should have that choice.
‘The SNP is doing very well in this campaign. We are the challenger to the Tories in Scotland, no wonder they are running scared.
‘If they think the Union is at threat, that’s because there is a better option for Scotland. There is a better future.’