NICOLA DRAGS US NEARER TO INDYREF 2
As her OWN top adviser says new poll may harm economy
NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday gave her clearest signal yet that she is preparing to hold a second referendum on independence.
In a bullish speech on the final day of the SNP conference in Glasgow, the First Minister told delegates: ‘Scotland must have the ability to choose a better future – and I will make sure that Scotland gets that chance.’
Although she held back from setting a date, Miss Sturgeon made it clear that a second referendum on breaking up Britain would be inevitable if Brexit, as expected, forced Scotland out of the European single market.
However, her determination to hold another poll on separation was undermined when one of her own senior advisers, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive David Frost, warned it would be deeply damaging for the economy.
Mr Frost was appointed by Miss Sturgeon to a standing council advising her Government on how to respond to the Brexit vote.
The Scottish Government will publish proposals to keep Scotland in the single market, even if the rest of the UK leaves, within weeks.
Miss Sturgeon told delegates at the SECC in Glasgow: ‘If the Tory Government rejects these efforts – if it insists on taking Scotland down a path that hurts our economy, costs jobs, lowers our living standards and damages our reputation as an open, welcoming, diverse country – then be in no doubt, Scotland must have the ability to choose a better future. And I will make sure that Scotland gets that chance.
‘The time is coming to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.’
With a so-called ‘hard Brexit’ looking increasingly likely, it is the clearest indication yet that the First Minister is determined to launch a second independence bid. She had already disclosed that a draft referendum Bill would be put out to consultation this week.
Her comments were greeted with rapturous applause from SNP members as she closed the party conference.
But they will dismay the UK Government, the SNP’s political opponents, businesses and many voters –- who have all made it clear they do not want another referendum. Support for separation has not risen since the UK-wide vote to leave the EU on June 23. Despite Miss Sturgeon predicting it would trigger an ‘unstoppable demand’ for a second independence vote, polls show support has plummeted to only a third.
Last week, Theresa May’s spokesman said the 2014 independence referendum had been ‘decisive’ and called on the SNP to respect the verdict of the Scottish people, instead of attempting to engineer a rerun.
But Miss Sturgeon said: ‘If that moment does arise, it will not be because the 2014 result hasn’t been respected. ‘It will be because the promises made to Scotland in 2014 have been broken.’
Taking part in Radio 4’s Any Questions, Mr Frost was asked if he believed the SNP would simply keep asking Scots to back independence, until it gets the answer it wants.
He replied: ‘I don’t know either whether the Scottish Government, the SNP, is going to keep asking the question or not, I’ve got no say in that. We just represent a business that’s got to deal with the consequences of that.
‘I guess, if I’m honest, we in the Scotch whisky industry think that dealing with Brexit is enough to be going on with for the moment.
‘That’s generated quite enough uncertainty, a challenge as well as an opportunity, and the prospect of a referendum adds to the uncertainty for everyone who is trying to
‘This is nothing but a smokescreen’
do business in Scotland. It’s an extra factor.’
The past two years have seen the oil price plummet to less than half the $113 (£93) predicted in the White Paper on Independence. In the wake of the oil price crash, which has cost tens of thousands of jobs across the UK, whisky has become Scotland’s most valuable industry.
Mr Frost’s criticism will be embarrassing for Miss Sturgeon. He said: ‘We in business would rather see more of a debate about how to keep the Scottish economy successful, how to keep it growing, how to bring business to Scotland. The Scottish economy started to diverge from the rest of the UK economy a couple of years ago – actually, in quarter three 2014 and that’s not an insignificant date. So let’s get the economy growing. ‘Those of us doing business across the UK, with operations across the UK, value the single market in the UK and the weight that the UK Government gives us overseas. ‘We said that in 2014 and although I haven’t talked to members about this question, I’d be surprised if those views were different.’ Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU. But she warned the SNP against imagining Scottish Remainers value the EU higher than the UK.
She wrote in the Financial Times: ‘For all the questions being asked in Scotland about Britain’s departure from the EU, none is answered by severing us from our own union of nations. In terms of trade, the United Kingdom is worth four times as much to Scotland as the EU.
‘In terms of social, cultural, historic and family ties, it is worth far more. These are the facts as Scots examine their constitutional position following the Brexit vote. And being facts, they are therefore being entirely ignored by the Scottish National Party.’
Miss Sturgeon’s closing speech to the conference also included a number of domestic policy announcements on childcare, health spending and supporting children in care.
Afterwards, her spokesman insisted this was proof the Government was ‘getting on with the day job’.
But Alistair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor who led the Better Together campaign, accused Miss Sturgeon of using the prospect of another independence battle as a ‘smokescreen’ to keep activists happy and deflect from the SNP’s failings in government, such as the yawning attainment gap between rich and poor pupils, the looming GP shortage crisis and a £15billion black hole in the Scottish Government’s balance sheet.
Mr Darling said: ‘This is nothing but a smokescreen. If Nicola Sturgeon thought she could win a referendum, she would hold it tomorrow. She knows she can’t.’
ARE the strains of balancing Scotland’s books without raising taxes already taking their toll on Derek Mackay? Since he took over as Finance Secretary from the evercompetent John Swinney, colleagues have watched closely for signs of deterioration in Mr Mackay’s customary fresh-faced demeanour. Hence Mr Swinney, whose hair fell out while in office, got laughs at the SNP conference when he warned his successor: ‘I, too, was once a young-looking Finance Minister, with a full head of hair. Be warned, this is your future.’ Later, a somewhat rattled Mr Mackay hesitated before donning his glasses to count a vote – then decided to make a joke of his growing infirmity, declaring: ‘Accuracy over vanity.’
PINCHING a woman’s bottom can constitute sexual assault. Pinching the First Minister’s bottom is probably high treason punishable by death – but you can get away with it if you are Peter Murrell. So when Nicola Sturgeon’s husband apparently gave her a playful nip to stop her accidentally sitting on top of him on a conference platform she merely giggled. A Murrell apologist observed dryly: ‘He’s our answer to Donald Trump.’