SNP docu launch postponed:

Britain

Strurgeon

Huppert

The launch of the Scottish National Party’s policy offer was suspended on Tuesday after at least 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber at a concert in the English city of Manchester.

The presentation of the SNP’s policy document for Britain’s June 8 national election was suspended along with all other party campaign events until further notice, in the wake of what police said was a suicide attack.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party (SNP) will insist on Scotland’s right to decide its own future as Britain leaves the European Union, according to a policy document to be published on Tuesday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP will ask voters in a June 8 general election to “strengthen Scotland’s hand against an extreme Brexit that will put tens of thousands of Scottish jobs at risk.”

Sturgeon runs Scotland’s devolved government and her party has most of the Scottish seats in Britain’s national parliament at Westminster.

“This election won’t decide whether or not Scotland will become independent, but a vote for the SNP will reinforce the right of the Scottish Parliament to decide when the nation should be given a choice on its future, and will make sure that Scotland’s future is always in Scotland’s hands,” she said, ahead of the launch of the policy document.

Polls show the SNP set to easily win in Scotland in the June vote, although the Conservatives will take some seats from them as the issue of keeping the United Kingdom together takes centre-stage.

Scots rejected independence by 10 percentage points in 2014 and support for secession since then is little changed.

But Sturgeon argues a new choice is needed because Scots, along with the Northern Irish, voted to keep their EU membership, clashing with voters in England and Wales who voted to leave the European Union. (RTRS)