Election is not an independence referendum, claims Sturgeon
The Scottish election “is not an independence referendum”, Nicola Sturgeon has insisted.
The First Minister’s comments came as opposition parties hit out at reports that she had ordered work to start on a new blueprint for breaking up Britain at the peak of the second wave of the Covid pandemic in Scotland.
Stories published in The Scottish Mail on Sunday claimed that officials have said that, in February, they were told that work on the Independence Referendum Bill must “commence immediately” – more than a month before the Scottish Government published the draft legislation.
On that date three months ago, the First Minister announced 69 more people had died in the pandemic, while schools remained shut, businesses were closed and the country remained in lockdown.
Dr Penny Curtis, deputy director of elections at the Scottish Government, in a memo to Ms Sturgeon and constitution secretary Mike Russell, wrote on February 2 to ‘”confirm that you are content that work on preparing the draft Bill should start now”. She said that, for it to be published before the election,
work “needs to commence imminently”.
Speaking on the BBC’S The Sunday Show, Ms Sturgeon said: “Opposition politicians can't have it both ways. They can’t say I should have spent the last year focusing on Covid, which I've done, and then say you should have spent the last year developing the plan for independence.
“Thursday is not an independence referendum, it's not asking people to vote yes or no. When we ask people to make that choice, just as we did in 2014, we will put forward a detailed perspective.”
Ms Sturgeon refused to discuss the possibility of joining forces to work with Alex Salmond’s party Alba if it won seats in the election, saying there were “hypothetical situations and then there's just completely absurd situations”.
She said polls showed the SNP and the Scottish Greens – who are also pro-independence
– would be likely to win enough seats for a pro-independence majority without Alba’s involvement. Ms Sturgeon again conceded that the SNP had "not yet done enough" when it comes to dealing with Scotland's education attainment gap. She had previously insisted that closing the gap in performance between rich and poor children in Scotland's schools was her top priority in government, saying voters should judge her on this.
She said: "We have not yet doneasmuchasiwantustodo." Ms Sturgeon insisted progress has been made, pointing to "record numbers" of young people from deprived areas going to university, but speaking about efforts to close the attainment gap, she added: "It is not yet where I want it to be." She said the SNP would do more to tackle the "driver of the attainment gap, which is child poverty" if re-elected to power for what would be a record fourth term in Scotland. She said it was "unacceptable" that almost a quarter (24 per cent) of children in Scotland are living in poverty - but said this was the lowest proportion of any nation of the UK, and added that her party had pledged to double the Scottish child payment, made to lowincome families, taking this to £20 a week.
Ms Sturgeon said: "We are not saying there are not big challenges to address in this country but we are the only party doing the work and putting forward the plans to actually do that.” Ms Sturgeon, who said she would serve the full fiveyear term if re-elected as first minister, added: "This country needs serious leadership because it is a serious time, and that is what I offer. "It seems that I am the only one in this campaign offering that."
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross warned that Ms Sturgeon is a "clear and present threat to our recovery” from the Covid crisis. He said: “It’s a jaw-dropping disgrace that Nicola Sturgeon chose to kickstart her indyref2 Bill while Scotland was stuck in lockdown under the stay-at-home order.
"When hundreds of Scots were still losing their lives to Covid, the SNP started to ramp up efforts to hold another referendum.
“They only have one priority. They are fixated on independence at the expense of everything else. The first chance that the SNP get, they will wreck our recovery.”
The UK Government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have made it clear they oppose another Scottish referendum, prompting fears that if independence parties win a majority on Thursday, a “wildcat” referendum could be held.
Mr Ross claimed Ms Sturgeon’s comments yesterday were the clearest signal yet that indyref2 would happen during the Covid pandemic recovery period.
"The threat has never been more real,” he said.
"Sturgeon is explicit. If she secures a Holyrood majority, she will hold a damaging and divisive referendum while Scotland is still reeling from the impact of Covid.
"This is beyond irresponsible. When our Scottish Parliament should be entirely focused on rebuilding and recovery, Sturgeon will plunge us into chaos and uncertainty.
"She talks about being in the driving seat – the problem is she wants to drive our economy off the edge of a cliff.
"If pro-uk voters lend the Scottish Conservatives their vote on the peach-coloured party list ballot paper, they can prevent an SNP majority and stop another referendum.”
We want Britain to rejoin the European Union, says Rennie
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has insisted that his party wants Britain to rejoin the European Union, despite his Westminster counterparts stepping back from Europe.
Speaking in Sky and BBC interviews yesterday morning, Mr Rennie said that he supported Britain rejoining the EU but not in the coming Scottish parliamentary term, due to a need to focus on recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
He said he believed it was “democratic” to block a future referendum on Scottish independence.
In response to questions on the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show, Mr Rennie said: "I think we should put the divisions of the past behind us.
"Of course I want to join the European Union, I want to be a member.
"We were the leading party
across the United Kingdom against Brexit, we've campaigned every single step of the way, but I accept that for the next five years you should focus on recovery.”
Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrat party in Westminster, has previously said the Liberal Democrats is “not a rejoining party” and stated “our campaign to stop Brexit is over".
Mr Rennie added: “The party's policy is clear. We want to persuade people, over a period of time, to join the European Union.
"We want to make sure we keep close, of course, in the meantime, so that we have good trading relationships, so that people have the opportunities that we previously had with the European Union.
"But for the next five years, I absolutely agree with Ed Davey – we need to focus on the
recovery because thousands of people are on the verge of losing their job. That should be the priority.
"I talk about Europe a lot. I think you'll find that I am a dedicated European, but the most important things in the next five years is to put recovery first, and the divisions of independence behind us.”
In an interview with Sky News broadcaster Sophy Ridge, Mr Rennie defended previous comments that he would vote against holding another referendum on Scottish independence, even if the SNP wins a majority in Thursday’s Holyrood election.
He said: “It is certainly democratic that I follow what my voters tell me to do.
"I'm against another independence referendum because I think it will distract the country at a time when we need to build the country.
If people vote for me on the basis that I'm clear, crystal clear, in an election campaign, it would be bizarre I did the opposite after the election.
"All the polls are showing that there's a decline in support for independence and for the SNP. Now is not the moment to choose another independence referendum because we've got so many challenges to overcome.”
Mr Rennie said last week that he was confident his party would make gains in the Scottish election and insisted he had the ambition to lead the country.
He offered a "progressive home" to voters who had previously backed the SNP but were now concerned that a second independence referendum would take priority over recovery from the pandemic.