Scotland can’t be imprisoned, says Sturgeon
First Minister claims ‘toxic’ Johnson will be forced to give her the powers to hold a second referendum
NICOLA STURGEON yesterday claimed Boris Johnson would be forced to capitulate and hand her the powers to call a second independence referendum as he could not “imprison” Scotland in the UK.
The First Minister said that in the short term “the Tories will rage against the reality” of the SNP’s landslide election win in Scotland, which saw her party win 48 out of 59 seats. But she said Mr Johnson’s pledge to refuse her the powers for another referendum for as long as he was Prime Minister could not be sustained in the wake of a “watershed election.”
In a direct challenge to the Prime Minister, she said he “should have the guts” to make the case for the Union to the Scottish people in a separation vote.
Ms Sturgeon dismissed his pledge in his victory speech outside No10 to unite and “heal” a divided UK, saying he cannot “bludgeon” Scotland into accepting his world view.
She also poured scorn on a planned post-election charm offensive to win over sceptical Scots, saying he was “toxic” on the doorstep during the campaign north of the Border. Derek
Mackay, her Finance Minister, went even further by comparing Mr Johnson refusing a referendum with Scotland living under a “dictatorship”.
Ms Sturgeon’s bullish prediction that the Prime Minister will have to cave in over another independence vote came after they spoke on the telephone on Friday evening. Downing Street said he used the conversation to reject her call for a second independence referendum, reiterating his “unwavering commitment to strengthening the Union”.
Ms Sturgeon said he adopted a “soft” and emollient tone in the call, in which she pointed out the Scottish Tories had lost six of their 13 seats after running a “single issue” campaign opposing a separation vote.
Speaking following a photocall with most of her MPs outside the V&A design museum in Dundee, Ms Sturgeon reassured her supporters that “the mandate and the momentum is firmly on our side”.
Citing the Tories’ previous opposition to the creation of the Scottish Parliament, she said: “That wasn’t a position they could sustain because they couldn’t stand in the way of the will of the Scottish people and the same will be true this time.
“The big danger for the Tories in Scotland – and I suspect some of the wiser heads already know this – is the more they try to block the will of the Scottish people, the more contempt they show for Scottish democracy, the more they just increase support for independence. This idea that the Tories can just say no and sort of imprison Scotland in a Union against its will, I just don’t think will hold.”
Senior Tories have pointed out the SNP won 45 per cent of the popular vote, while the three Unionist parties together got nearly 55 per cent, but she said they were clutching at straws.
Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tories’ shadow finance minister, said: “A majority of the people in Scotland did not vote for the SNP and did not vote to endorse another independence referendum, so I do not think it is credible for them to say that there is a mandate now.”
The Telegraph disclosed yesterday that Mr Johnson accepts his unpopularity contributed to the SNP landslide, and is “determined to sort it out” with more visits to Scotland.