Nicola’s Brexit problem

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday conceded she ‘cannot ignore’ that a million Scots voted to leave the EU – but blamed ‘disenfranchisement and disillusionment’ caused by the UK Government.

At the Institute of Directors’ annual convention in London, the First Minister said: ‘I’m very proud of the fact Scotland voted so strongly to remain in the EU. But I cannot ignore the fact that, even in Scotland, a million people voted to leave.

‘That feeling was even more prevalent in other parts of the UK. There are many, many causes.

‘For many people, they will have included entirely reasonable doubts and reservations about the EU. It is, after all, an imperfect organisation facing a number of challenges.

‘But in part, Brexit was a product of a sense of disenfranchisement and disillusionment. It was born of inequality, of feelings of powerlessness – of austerity budgets which hurt the public services and social safety nets that so many people rely on.’

Miss Sturgeon repeated her claim that ‘a referendum on Scottish independence remains an option, if the approach taken by the Westminster Government proves to be seriously damaging to our economy, our competitiveness and our place in the world’.

But Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: ‘While Nicola Sturgeon lectures London about the cause of Brexit, she is plotting to make the situation a whole lot worse with another divisive referendum on independence. Instead of travelling to London to tell people off, she should drop her plans for independence and focus on the huge challenges Scottish public services face.’