REFERENDUM ‘AS SOON AS 2018’

‘Out of touch’ Sturgeon flies in the face of polls and threatens another vote on independence

NICOLA Sturgeon was yesterday accused of being ‘out of touch’ with the people of Scotland after refusing to rule out demanding another independence referendum as early as next year.

The SNP leader claimed that the case for breaking up Britain gets ‘stronger by the day’ and has ‘never been greater’.

She made the comments despite admitting that her decision to push for a referendum earlier this year had been ‘premature’ and that people are ‘scunnered’ with elections and referendums.

Miss Sturgeon ramped up the rhetoric about a rerun of the 2014 vote as her party’s annual conference got under way in Glasgow.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney candidly admitted that Miss Sturgeon’s push for another referendum had a ‘very significant effect’ on the general election, when the SNP shed 500,000 votes and lost 21 MPs.

Speaking on ITV’s Peston on Sunday, Miss Sturgeon said Theresa May was ‘clutching at straws’ when she claimed last week that she and Ruth Davidson ‘saved the Union’ during the general election.

She added: ‘On the question of independence, when I watch the utter chaos now engulfing the UK, when we look forward and see the implications of Brexit, that slow-motion car crash that is developing now, then the case for Scotland being in control of our own destiny, having control over the decisions that shape our lives, has arguably never been greater. So that’s a case I will continue to make.’

Opponents have called on Miss Sturgeon to rule out a referendum before the 2021 Holyrood elections.

Opinion polls suggest that the SNP is on course to lose its proindependence majority at Holyrood, which could kill off any prospect of another vote on independence before 2026.

At conference yesterday, many delegates urged the party’s leadership to demand another vote before 2021.

At a fringe meeting on Brexit, one delegate said: ‘If we go for after 2021, there’s a very good chance we might not have an indy majority.’

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Miss Sturgeon conceded that it would be ‘premature’ to decide when a referendum could happen given the ‘uncertainty’ about Brexit.

She also said that there is ‘perhaps an element of people being a bit “scunnered”’ with big decisions in Scotland.

However, she also suggested she would decide on her timeSturgeon table for another independence vote at the end of next year, when there will be ‘greater clarity’ about the Brexit deal.

The First Minister branded Brexit a ‘disaster’ and condemned the ‘incompetent, chaotic approach being presided over by Theresa May’, with Scotland ‘being taken down that path against our will’. Miss added that the ‘case becomes stronger by the day’ for ‘Scotland’s future being in Scotland’s hands and us being more in control of the decisions that shape our destiny’.

Questioned on whether she would apologise to SNP members for the general election performance, she said ‘the BBC needs a reality check’ and highlighted that the SNP is still ahead in the opinion polls.

She also defended her own record, pointing out that the SNP had only six MPs when she became leader. However, she conceded that she does ‘regret every seat that we lost’.

On the BBC’s Sunday Politics show, Mr Swinney admitted that the push for a referendum had a ‘significant effect’ on the party’s general election performance. Despite that, he said in his main speech yesterday that the conference provided an opportunity for the SNP to ‘re-dedicate ourselves to the cause of independence’.

Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon had a real opportunity today to act as First Minister and rule out a divisive second referendum. Instead, she and her fellow ministers have decided to play to the SNP gallery.

‘It shows that the SNP leadership is more concerned about appeasing its own party membership than it is about doing what’s right for the country. Nicola Sturgeon is increasingly out of touch and out of ideas.

‘She has panicked at opinion polls showing she will lose her majority and any chance of a second referendum at the next election.’

Scottish Labour interim leader Alex Rowley said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon must listen to the clear message the voters sent her and drop her plans for another divisive independence referendum for the duration of this parliament.’

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton called another referendum ‘unwanted and unwelcome’.

Stephen Daisley – Page 16

‘Playing to the SNP gallery’