May urges Scots voters to send message on indyref2
SNP says it has ‘iron-cast’ mandate whatever results of council elections
The Prime Minister has entered the campaign against a second independence campaign by urging Scots to use their votes in the forthcoming council elections to reject the prospect.
Theresa May, who is expected to be in Glasgow later this week for the Scottish Conservative Party conference, also dismissed claims from the SNP that Scotland’s voice is being ignored in the Brexit process.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said another vote on leaving the UK is “highly likely” after 62 per cent of Scots voted for the UK to stay in the EU and the weight of votes south of the Border swung the outcome in favour of Leave.
But in an article for Holyrood magazine, Mrs May issued a rallying call against another referendum.
She said: “We will also be looking forward to the local elections in May, when voters across Scotland will have the chance to send a clear message to the SNP that they do not want a second independence referendum, by voting Scottish Conservative
and Unionist on 4 May.” The Tory leader insisted that the UK was a “partnership of equal citizens”.
“When we take decisions on a Uk-basis, whether in a referendum or a general election, every individual has an equal voice,” she said.
“So in June last year, when the UK as a whole was asked if we should leave or remain in the European Union, every voter had an equal say and the collective answer was final.”
Scotland’s Brexit minister Michael Russell has previously claimed that UK ministers have “offered nothing” to Scotland in the negotiations to leave the EU.
The Scottish Government has published a formal paper setting out proposals aimed at allowing Scotland to stay in the EU’S lucrative single market but has yet to receive a for- mal response. UK ministers have said the proposals are being considered.
Mrs May said: “The Joint Ministerial Committee has allowed the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to make direct representations to the UK government as we develop our thinking and their input has been beneficial.
“Despite what you might read in the newspapers, it is clear that there is considerable common ground between us. We all want the freest possible trade in goods and services between the UK and the EU’S member states.
“This should give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets, and let European businesses do the same here. This will be delivered through a new comprehensive, bold and ambitious free trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU.”
An SNP spokesman said: “There is already a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum that was delivered in last year’s Holyrood election, however much the Tories might try to deny it. That mandate also stems from the EU referendum, which saw Scotland vote by a 24-point margin to stay in Europe”