BATTLE OF BRIT AIN TURNS UGLY
Bitter war of words as May warns Sturgeon about ‘game-playing’ with future of the UK
‘Constitutional game-playing’
NICOLA Sturgeon and Theresa May were locked in a war of words last night over the SNP’s bid for a second referendum.
The First Minister questioned Mrs May’s mandate to govern, saying she had ‘not yet been elected by anyone’.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said Miss Sturgeon had ‘gone the full Donald Trump’.
The Prime Minister accused Miss Sturgeon of ‘constitutional game-playing with the future of the United Kingdom’.
Miss Sturgeon caught Downing Street by surprise on Monday by announcing plans for a second independence referendum between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
Government sources suggested Mrs May would not sanction a referendum in the run-up to Britain’s exit from the EU.
Scotland Office minister Lord Dunlop yesterday spelled out the Government’s objection to Miss Sturgeon’s timetable.
He said: ‘I can think of nothing more calculated to undermine the achievement of a good deal than holding a divisive, disruptive referendum during the last six months of the most important peacetime negotiations this country has ever known.’
Miss Sturgeon warned Downing Street against any ‘blocking mechanisms’ and said the timing of the referendum should be a matter for Scotland.
She added: ‘Cabinet today agreed the referendum must be for Scotland’s national legislature to shape. It should be up to the Scottish parliament to determine the timing, the franchise and the question.’
Miss Sturgeon was angered by reports Downing Street could ask her to secure a new mandate for a referendum at the 2021 Holyrood election.
In a series of tweets, she contrasted her own ‘mandate’ with that of the Prime Minister. In the first message, she wrote: ‘A quick reminder: Tory vote in General Election 2015 – 36.9 per cent; SNP constituency vote in Scottish parliament elections 2016 – 46.5 per cent. Trading mandates does not put PM on strong ground.’
In a second message, she said: ‘I was elected as First Minister on a clear manifesto commitment re #scotref. The PM is not yet elected by anyone.’
Miss Davidson said: ‘Responding to anonymous tittle-tattle by trading mandates over twittecting ter? Goodness. Someone’s gone the full Donald Trump.’
Launching her referendum bid, Miss Sturgeon accused Mrs May of failing to respect Scotland’s interests by insisting the UK must leave the single market as part of Brexit. She claimed her appeals to the Prime Minister had been met with ‘a brick wall of intransigence’.
But in the Commons yesterday, Mrs May said: ‘The new relationship with the EU that we negotiate will work for the whole of the United Kingdom. That is why we have been working closely with the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government, listening to their proposals and recognising the many areas of common ground we have, such as pro- workers’ rights and our security from crime and terrorism.
‘This is not a moment to play politics or create uncertainty and division. It is a moment to bring our country together, to honour the will of the British people and to shape a brighter future and a better Britain.’
Tory MPS last night urged Mrs May not to grant another independence referendum until after the UK leaves the EU.
Yorkshire MP Rishi Sunak said: ‘It seems hard to block a referendum but we should push the timing until after Brexit so the choice is clearer for people. A good deal will strengthen the case for the Union.’
Wellingborough MP Peter Bone said: ‘We can’t really say no to a referendum – but we should not have it until after we have left the EU.’
Meanwhile, at Holyrood yesterday, Brexit Minister Mike Russell insisted that if the Scottish parliament requested a Section 30 order, it ‘would not be in any sense a democratic move’ for the UK Government to block it.
But Scottish Tory constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said Miss Sturgeon had ‘jumped the gun by issuing uncalled-for and unilateral demands for a second independence referendum to break Britain up’.
He added: ‘Why should the UK Government now take Scottish Government ministers into their trust at all about the UK Brexit negotiations?’