PM SQUARES UP TO STURGEON

May pledges Tories will tackle ‘tunnel-vision nationalism’ head-on

THERESA May has squared up to Nicola Sturgeon by launching a scathing attack on the SNP’s ‘tunnel-vision nationalism’ and high-tax agenda. The Prime Minister yesterday declared that the Conservatives can win control of towns and cities across Scotland next month as she launched her party’s local election campaign.

And she accused Miss Sturgeon of only being interested in ‘talking our United Kingdom down’.

In a clear attempt to fight back against the SNP and Labour, Mrs May said her party’s desire to keep taxes low and to stand up for the Union will be key priorities in the run-up to the council elections on May 4.

She insisted there are no longer any ‘nogo areas’ for the Tories in Britain.

Next month’s local elections are widely expected to be a two-way battle between the SNP and Conservatives, with Labour’s vote set to collapse across the country.

Speaking on the day that Scotland became the highest taxed part of the UK, Mrs May said that Labour and the SNP are ‘exceptionally good at wasting your money, they excel at imposing new red tape, and they are world-class at hiking your taxes’.

She added: ‘In fact, when you look at it closely, these local elections present a clear

and informative choice: the competence of a strong Conservative council, focused on the priorities of local people, keeping local taxes down and delivering high quality local services, or the chaos and disarray of the rest – political parties motivated not by what is best for local areas, but what is best for their own partisan political interest.’

As she launched the Tories’ UK campaign in Nottinghamshire, she said Labour is ‘out of touch with the concerns of British people’, while the Liberal Democrats’ ‘only interest seems to be in trying to re-run the (EU) referendum’.

She went on: ‘And in Scotland and Wales, the divisive, tunnel-vision nationalisms of the SNP and Plaid Cymru: parties devoted to talking our United Kingdom down, whose focus is far removed from the real priorities of working people.

‘All of these parties put their own political interests ahead of the national and local interest.’

In the 2012 local elections, the SNP edged ahead of Labour in Scotland by winning 32.4 per cent of ‘first preference’ votes, compared to 31.4 per cent for Labour.

The Conservatives trailed well behind in third place, on 13.3 per cent. Across Scotland, the SNP won 425 seats, with 394 for Labour and 115 for the Tories.

But Ruth Davidson has led a resurgence of the Tories in Scotland, which saw the party become the main Holyrood opposition after last year’s elections, with 31 MSPs elected.

According to an Ipsos Mori poll last month, 42 per cent of voters intend to give their first preference votes to the SNP, followed by 17 per cent to the Conservatives and 16 per cent to Labour.

However, Tory sources are confident they can secure a better result after a campaign which is expected to be dominated by the SNP’s push for a second independence referendum and tax policies. Mrs May – who last month rejected demands for Indyref 2 as early as next autumn – said: ‘Only the Conservatives have a plan for Britain, a plan for a better future for our whole United Kingdom – England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – a plan that enlists all the resources at our command, and has as its goal nothing less than to improve the lives of everyone in our country.’

However, an SNP spokesman said: ‘This is rich coming from the Tories, who are basing their entire council election campaign around the issue of independence and ignoring vital local issues.’

Comment – Page 16

‘Focus far removed from real priorities’