Sturgeon a ‘hypocrite’ over her EU vote stance
NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of hypocrisy after claiming that the EU referendum will jeopardise jobs and investment.
The First Minister repeatedly dismissed the same concerns raised by business leaders about last year’s Scottish independence vote.
She also ruled out sharing a platform with senior Tories campaigning to stay in the EU – in contrast to her f oreign affairs spokesman Alex Salmond.
It is the latest disagreement between the pair, just weeks after she slapped down her former mentor’s claim that the SNP landslide was ‘a staging post’ on the road to independence.
Miss Sturgeon told Sky News that David Cameron’s in-out EU referendum would push the UK ‘perilously close to the exit door’.
While the SNP backs reform, it wants that to be negotiated from within the
‘Why is one union bad and the other good?’ ‘Extraordinary intervention’
EU. Miss Sturgeon has previously called for a veto for all four home nations on a UK exit and even threatened a second Scottish independence vote if she does not get what she wants.
But Mr Cameron, who has promised to hold a referendum on renegotiated EU terms by the end of 2017, has said the UK must make the decision as a whole.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘ There are a number of reforms we would argue for but crucially I think we should do that from within the European Union.
‘Exiting, or threatening to exit the European Union, is damaging to our economy, to potential investment and to jobs and that is the case I will make in Brussels this week.’
When Mr Salmond was asked if he would share a pro-EU platform with Chancellor George Osborne l ast month, he replied: ‘ I mean, listen, I share platforms with everybody except fascists and non-democrats.’
Not for the first time, Miss Sturgeon made it clear that she is at odds with the man charged wi t h leading the SNP’s campaign.
She said: ‘I’ve got no plans to share a platform with David Cameron, or George Osborne, or anyone else in the Conservative Party.
‘I’ll make a case as leader of the SNP, as First Minister f or Scotland, based on my belief that Scotland’s interests, and I would say the UK’s interests, are best served by being in the European Union.’
But her opponents said it was ludicrous to claim that the EU referendum would jeopardise the economy, just months after insisting the Scottish one did not – especially as Miss Sturgeon has refused to honour her ‘once in a generation’ promise and rule out a rerun. Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘The SNP spent the independence referendum campaign denying that it caused uncertainty for Scots, so for Nicola Sturgeon to use the same warnings about the EU referendum is t he defi ni t i on of hypocrisy.’
A spokesman f or Scottish Labour said: ‘Scottish Labour believes that being part of a bigger union allows us to share resources and create more opportunities.
‘It’s nice to see that Nicola Sturgeon agrees that we get the best of both worlds, although the very real concerns about jobs and investment she highlights she dismissed as scaremongering last year.
‘Some Scots may wonder why exactly the SNP consider one union so bad and the other good.’
The Scots Lib Dems urged her to follow Mr Salmond’s lead in agreeing to share a platform with those opposed to an EU exit.
Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Lib Dems said: ‘This is an extraordinary intervention from the First Minister. By ruling out working with one person or another, she seems to be putting party before country.
‘We need all of those who agree that Scotland and the UK are better off in the EU to work together.
‘ It is not often that Alex Salmond is the voice of reason but he has said he will work with all parties to make that positive case. Nicola Sturgeon should listen to him.’
Meanwhile, Miss Sturgeon is planning to woo the US and is being lined up to appear in the ratings hit Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart.
Talks are understood to be ongoing but if she does appear, she will be f ollowing in the footsteps of Barack Obama, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
It will infuriate Alex Salmond to see his successor instantly achieve the kind of status he spent years and numerous taxpayer-funded cross-Atlantic trips trying to cultivate.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The programme for the First Minister’s visit is still being finalised but is expected to include a number of media opportunities to help promote Scotland.’
Miss Sturgeon is due to visit New York and Washington DC later this month.