We need stability not snap general election says PM
THERESA MAY has ruled out a snap General Election and claimed Scots don’t want a second Scottish independence referendum.
In her first major interview since taking office, the Prime Minister said the country needed a period of stability after the shockwaves of the pro-Brexit vote.
The PM said the UK should be prepared for “difficult times” ahead despite a slew of betterthan-expected economic indicators.
She also insisted controls on the movement of people from the EU to Britain needed to be imposed as part of an exit deal with Brussels.
When pressed on Nicola Sturgeon’s push for independence, Mrs May stopped short of ruling out a second Scottish referendum but added: “I don’t think it’s a question of whether there could be, I think it’s a question of whether there should be. And I think if you look at some of the results that are now coming out of polling in Scotland, they suggest that the Scottish people don’t want there to be a second referendum.”
Mrs May also appeared to pour scorn on any chance of a separate Brexit deal for Scotland, explaining: “There’s been a vote of the United Kingdom that it wants to come out of the European Union. Scotland wasn’t the only part of the UK that voted Remain rather than to leave. But the overall view of the United Kingdom and the public was to come out of the European Union.
“We respect the wishes of the British people.”
Asked if she was tempted to call a snap General Election with polls showing she could increase her knife-edge majority, Mrs May added: “I’m not going to be calling a snap election.
“I’ve been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability – to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have that election in 2020.”
Mrs May said the EU referendum result showed Britain could no longer accept free movement of labour.
“What the vote, what leaving the European Union does enable us to do is, yes, to say what I think the British people are very clear about, which is that they don’t want free movement to continue in the way that it has done in the past.
“They do want to see controls of movement of people coming in from the European Union. Now, obviously we’re looking at what those options are.
“But people also want to see the job opportunities, to see the economic opportunities, and so getting a good deal in trading goods and services is also obviously important for us.”
Brexit Secretary David Davis will make a statement to the Commons this week on the Government’s emerging position on the terms of withdrawal, and what kind of relationship the UK wants with the EU.