THE HAVE A GO ZERO
Bullish PM puts Conservatives on war footing as she slams SNP ‘focus on independence at any cost’
THERESA May yesterday launched a defence of the “precious Union” as she fired the starting gun on a second referendum campaign.
The Prime Minister put activists on a war footing for a repeat of the 2014 independence vote in her speech at the Scottish Conservatives conference in Glasgow.
She accused the SNP of selling Scotland short with a “tunnel-vision nationalism which focuses only on independence at any cost”.
And she insisted there is “no economic case for breaking up the United Kingdom” as she promised to devolve more powers to Holyrood in the wake of Brexit.
Opponents said the attack on the SNP’s nationalism was “ironic and hypocritical” given the Tories’ approach to Brexit.
The speech at the Scottish Events Campus came amid speculation Nicola Sturgeon will demand indyref2 at her party conference in two weeks. May did not mention the prospect of another referendum.
But she said “strengthening and sustaining the bonds that unite us is a personal priority”.
She said Sturgeon treated politics “as if it were a game”, and pursued policies “not in the best interests of Scotland but in the political interests of the SNP”. She accused the SNP of
We must never stop making the positive case for our precious union THERESA MAY
“n eg l e ct and mismanagement” of education, “abysmal failure” on farm payments, “starving” the NHS and replacing stamp duty with a tax that costs more but brings in less than expected.
She said: “Politics is not a game and government is not a platform from which to pursue constitutional obsessions. It is about taking the serious decisions to improve people’s lives. A tunnel- vision nationalism, which focuses only on independence at any cost, sells Scotland short.”
May said both Scotland and the rest of the UK have benefited from and depend upon “the fundamental unity of the British people which underwrites our whole existence as a United Kingdom”.
She said that solidarity was of greatest benefit to “the poorest and the most vulnerable in our society” and added: “We are four nations, but at heart we are one people. Let us never stop making loudly and clearly the positive, optimistic and passionate case for our precious union of nations and people.”
The PM unveiled a sea change in the UK Government’s attitude to Holyrood. She said: “The devolution of powers must not mean we become a looser and weaker union.
“We cannot allow our United Kingdom to drift apart. For too long the attitude in Whitehall has been to ‘devolve and forget’.
“In areas where responsibilities are
devolved, we will look for ways to collaborate and work together with the devolved administrations to improve the outcome or everyone.”
SNP depute leader Angus Robertson branded the speech “ironic, hypocritical and surreal”.
He said: “Theresa May is guilty of mind-boggling hypocrisy – it is her Government’s constitutional obsession with a hard Brexit which is directly threatening Scottish jobs and livelihoods.
“In those circumstances, we have a duty to stand up for Scotland and to have a plan in place to protect our vital national interests.
“And the Scottish Government have a cast-iron democratic mandate for an independence referendum if that is the chosen route to protect those interests.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: “With her dangerous pursuit of a hard Brexit that threatens our economy, Theresa May created the deep divisions in society that the SNP thrive upon.”