Sturgeon ‘respects’ indy vote... despite bid for another

NICOLA Sturgeon claims she ‘respects’ the result of the independence referendum – despite planning to launch a draft Bill proposing another vote today.

Speaking hours before the Bill will be published for consultation, the First Minister said: ‘I will be intensifying our efforts to protect Scotland’s place in Europe.

‘If it becomes clear it is the best or only way of safeguarding Scotland’s interests, parliament must be able to consider the option of an independence referendum.

‘It will not be because the result of the 2014 referendum has not been respected – it will be because the promises made to Scotland have not been kept.’

Miss Sturgeon argued the UK Government was ‘threatening to drag us out of the EU’ against our

‘Reckless move by the First Minister’

will, despite more than one million Scots voting Leave in June.

Critics last night accused Miss Sturgeon of failing to listen and pushing her own agenda.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: ‘The First Minister says she respects the result from 2014 but there will be more than two million Scots who now know otherwise.

‘Scotland’s business community doesn’t want another independence referendum and the majority of the people of Scotland don’t want another referendum.’

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said that ‘Remain voters did not vote for Scotland to leave the UK’, while Shadow Scottish Secretary Dave Anderson branded the referendum push as a ‘reckless move by Nicola Sturgeon’.