The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sturgeon makes pledge over Scottish split in Dundee speech.
First minister also tells Dundee crowd there is ‘no deal’ with Corbyn’s Labour
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was in Dundee yesterday, where she promised Scotland’s separation from the UK would not be as “difficult” as the “Charlatans at Westminster” had made Brexit.
Ms Sturgeon spoke to a full room at the Quay, having been introduced to the crowd by Dundee East candidate Stewart Hosie.
The SNP leader told the room Brexit so far had been “just a warm-up act” and accused Boris Johnson of being a puppet whose strings were being pulled by Brexit party leader Nigel Farage.
She warned Boris Johnson’s deal could cost the Scottish economy £9 billion and if the UK “crashes out” without a deal, it would cost £12.7bn in comparison with remaining in the EU.
When asked if the SNP still planned on taking only 18 months to carry out “independence” from Westminster, Ms Sturgeon said the party had been upfront about all of the decisions necessary, but would not say how long it would take to complete.
She said: “I can understand why proponents of Brexit want to draw the analogy between the Brexit process and independence.
“As much as I oppose Brexit, there was nothing inevitable about the mess that the Brexit process became.
“That was down to the fact that those who advocated Leave in the referendum didn’t put any detail of what it would mean in practice – of the trade-offs and compromises that would be required to implement that – before people.”
She added the Scottish Government had made compromises ahead of the vote in 2014.
“Not everyone agreed with that, there was vigorous debate around it, but it was there for people to judge,” she said.
“We were very upfront, at times very controversially, about some of the compromises and trade-offs.”
The first minister also denied there had been any deal with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the event of a hung parliament, but said he would have some “explaining” to do if he turned down the chance to lead a Labour government on December 13 if it meant having to work with the SNP.
Ms Sturgeon had previously said it would not be worth Mr Corbyn “picking up the phone” if he did not approve a second referendum on Scottish independence in the event of a hung parliament.
She said: “There is no deal with
Jeremy Corbyn.
“The conversations I’ve had with Jeremy Corbyn in recent months, the most recent was just before the election was called in Westminster, have been about Brexit.
“It was about how the opposition parties were trying to come together to stop Brexit and find a better way forward.”
Scottish Conservative interim leader Jackson Carlaw said: “The truth of it is that Brexit has always been a convenient excuse the SNP have used to campaign for a second referendum.
“It’s why Nicola Sturgeon was on her feet within 24 hours of the 2016 Brexit vote demanding Indyref2.
“These remarks again demonstrate that the SNP puts independence first, last and always.
“While the health service is in disarray, education standards are falling and roads are disintegrating, the SNP chooses to focus on independence.
“We must stop Scotland going back to more division – the only way to stop Indyref2, get Brexit sorted and move on is by voting Scottish Conservative.”