The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scots ‘on the brink’ of having independence
Robertson says he will deliver secession as Sturgeon meets UK leaders
Scotland is “on the brink” of independence, says the SNP’s leader at Westminster.
Angus Robertson, who is vying to be the party’s second in command, said he would use the deputy leadership to “deliver our goal of independence”.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon continued her mission to protect Scotland’s EU status by meeting other leaders from the UK’s devolved governments.
Mr Robertson said: “We are on the brink of independence. The campaign that comes now should be all about persuading people why our vision is the right one for Scotland. The SNP depute leader has a big role in order to make this happen – developing our policy, strategy and tactics to win.”
He added: “My vision for this role is about unity, campaigning and delivering our goal of independence.”
The Moray MP is up against Westminster colleague Tommy Sheppard and Inverclyde councillor Christopher McEleny.
But his highest profile challenger is the MEP Alyn Smith, who has offered to be Ms Sturgeon’s “freelance roving sherpa” to secure the best EU deal for Scotland.
Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon said the discussions with her counterparts at an extraordinary meeting of the British-Irish Council in Cardiff had been “frank and very robust”.
There was a Celtic clash as Ms Sturgeon demanded Scotland’s remain vote be respected, while Arlene Foster, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, which also supported staying in the EU, disagreed by saying the UK-wide Brexit vote must stand.
Ms Sturgeon said after the meeting that “unprecedented solutions” are required for “unprecedented times” to keep Scotland in the EU.
“If there’s not a way of doing that within the UK, then it sends the message to people in Scotland that our voice doesn’t matter and can be ignored,” she said.
“The UK is a multinational state and if it’s not able to demonstrate that the voices of the different nations can be heard and listened to, then certain conclusions will be drawn from that.
“There’s an onus (on the UK government) to demonstrate to the rest of the UK that solutions can be found. If that doesn’t happen, then for Scotland other options will have to be considered.”
She has repeatedly said that those options include a second independence referendum. .
SNP membership has grown by 4,000 since the Brexit vote.