May attacks Sturgeon over ‘independence at any cost’
Economy not just a passing fad, warns Downing Street
THERESA May yesterday hit back at Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that breaking up the United Kingdom is more important than safeguarding Scotland’s economy.
Downing Street’s response came after the First Minister insisted that achieving independence was more important than ‘national wealth and balance sheets and passing political fads and trends’.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said it was wrong to describe such important issues as ‘passing fads’, adding: ‘These are fundamental issues about what Britain is and what it is dealing with.’
It is the first time that Downing Street has publicly criticised the First Minister since Mrs May took charge.
Miss Sturgeon made her astonishing claim in a newspaper article to mark the second anniversary of the indearound
‘Knows she would be finished’
pendence referendum. She had attempted to downplay the perilous state the economy would be in if Scotland left the UK.
The First Minister said: ‘Two years on from the historic vote of 2014, the fundamental case for Scotland’s independence remains as it was.
‘The case for full self-government ultimately transcends the issues of Brexit, of oil, of national wealth and balance sheets and of passing political fads and trends.’
The comments sparked a furious backlash, with critics saying it is clear that she is interested in ‘independence at any cost’.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson joined Downing Street in criticising Miss Sturgeon for the comments. Writing in today’s Scottish Daily Mail, she said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon’s declaration this week that her dream of separation “transcends” issues such as the health of our economy, the security of your job, and the state of our public services, has cleared any confusion: for the SNP, it is independence at any price.’
In recent days, key figures in the SNP have indicated that another referendum should be held within two years. Former First Minister Alex Salmond said he expected another vote autumn 2018, while Deputy First Minister John Swinney declined an opportunity to dispute his former leader’s timescale.
However, Alistair Darling, who led the Better Together campaign during the referendum, yesterday claimed that Miss Sturgeon knows she could lose her job if the Yes campaign is defeated again and made comparisons with David Cameron’s departure.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the former Labour chancellor said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon is not going to risk everything, her reputation – she has seen what has happened to David Cameron, who the only thing people will remember about him I suspect when history is written in years to come is that he accidentally got us out of the EU and he didn’t want it.
‘If she loses, she knows she would be
finished. That’s why she is in no hurry to rush into it.
‘What she has got to do, of course, is to continually throw red meat to her supporters.
‘In many ways, calling for independence is a diversion because people aren’t discussing the fact that how is it that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are not getting the same opportunities as they are, say, in London, why is it we’ve got a shortage of GPs in Scotland, when all these things are controlled by the Scottish Government.’
According to the latest Survation poll, 47 per cent of Scots think Scotland should be an independent country.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon attempted to signify the importance of the economy by visiting the Aberdeen headquarters of Norwegian firm Statoil, where she said the North Sea industry has a ‘positive future’.
She admitted the sector is going through a ‘difficult time’ but said ‘what the industry must be ready to do is to capitalise when the upturn comes’.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government will be urged to do more to make Brexit a success, in a debate on the economy at Holyrood today. Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said the fishing and farming industries could benefit, along with exports and tourism.
‘Yet rather than take these forward, rather than be positive about the future, all the SNP wants to do is sit on the sidelines and complain,’ he said.
At the Lib Dem conference in Brighton yesterday, Scottish leader Willie Rennie insisted the party would continue to stick to its manifesto stance to oppose a second referendum ‘like glue’.