May rejects calls for Scottish referendum if Nationalists win
THERESA MAY used her first campaign visit to Scotland yesterday to dismiss Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she would agree another independence referendum if the SNP wins in Scotland.
The Prime Minister refused to support Ms Sturgeon’s suggestion that her opposition to holding another vote on breaking-up Britain would “crumble to dust” if the SNP take most seats north of the border.
Mrs May instead said she would only allow a new vote if there was clear evidence that the people of Scotland wanted one – something not currently the case according to polls.
She told supporters at a rally in a village hall in Crathes, Aberdeenshire: “We want to ensure that we build a more secure and united nation and that means taking action against the extremists who would divide us and standing up against the separatists who want to break up our country.” An ORB International poll for Sunday Telegraph shows that the Tories have pulled ahead of Labour in Scotland.
Some 27 per cent of voters were found to back the Tories – far higher than the 16 per cent supporting Labour. The SNP was well ahead of both.
The findings are a major turnaround from the 2015 general election, when Labour got 24 per cent of the vote and the Tories just 15 per cent.
The Tories are now also polling ahead of Labour in London and Yorkshire. Overall the poll gives the Conservatives, with 42 per cent, an 11-point lead over Labour on 31 per cent. The Lib Dems have 10 per cent, Ukip eight per cent, with other parties taking the remaining 9 per cent.
The latest poll suggests the Tories, who currently have one MP north of the border, will pick up seven seats from the SNP, to record their best general election result in Scotland for a generation, with the Liberal Democrats gaining two and the Nationalists losing nine overall.
Angus Robertson, the SNP Westminster leader whose Moray seat is under threat, claimed the Prime Minister’s visit failed to shed any light on key policy issues.
He added: ”By referring to extremists and so-called separatists in the same breath, she risks insulting almost half of the Scottish electorate.”