The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cosy chat:
FM to outline plans in event referendum is refused by May
Prime Minister Theresa May was in Scotland yesterday as she prepared to formally trigger Article 50 and launch the Brexit process. Mrs May held talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow.
There is no “rational argument” against holding an independence referendum within two years, Nicola Sturgeon has said as she claimed Theresa May agrees with her likely Brexit timetable.
The First Minister wants another vote on the constitution to take place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019 but the Prime Minister yesterday confirmed once again that she would reject any ballot on that timetable.
Following a meeting in Glasgow, however, SNP leader Ms Sturgeon insisted the Prime Minister had been clear the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU and the details of a new free trade deal would be known within two years.
She said: “I think it makes it very difficult for the Prime Minister to maintain a rational opposition to a referendum in the timescale I have set out.
“I think she has got a perfectly rational opposition to a referendum now, which is why I am not proposing it.
“But I think based on the discussion today I would struggle to see what her rational opposition to it would be in the timescale we have been talking about.”
Ms Sturgeon described the talks as “cordial” and “business-like”, although she said Mrs May had made no offer on powers to be devolved to Scotland as part of the Brexit process.
Asked about what would happen if her call for another referendum was formally rejected, Ms Sturgeon said: “I will set that out in due course. I actually have views in my mind around that.
“If their position remains as it is right now, I will set out to Parliament what I think the next steps should be.”
Earlier in the day, Mrs May, who refused to allow print media into any of her events, taking only limited questions from broadcasters, said her position will not change on Ms Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum by spring 2019 and she would not be drawn on whether a vote could take place further into the future, restating her view that “now is not the time” for another ballot.
The UK Conservative leader said a vote on within Ms Sturgeon’s time frame would be “unfair” to the Scottish people.
She said: “Now is the point when we are triggering Article 50, we’re starting negotiations for leaving the European Union. Now is the time when we should be pulling together, not hanging apart.
“Pulling together to make sure we get the best possible deal for the whole of the UK.
“Also, I think it would be unfair on the people of Scotland to ask them to make a significant decision until all the facts were known, at a point where nobody knows what the situation is going to be.
“My position isn’t going to change, which is that now is not the time to be talking about a second independence referendum.”
The Prime Minister also vowed to build a “more united nation” as Britain leaves the EU.