BORIS: I WON’T EVER NEGOTIATE WITH THE SNP
As PM arrives in Scotland, his promise to Mail readers over threat of second independence referendum
BORIS Johnson today offers Scots a cast-iron ‘guarantee’ he will never allow another independence referendum.
The Prime Minister vowed to completely block Nicola Sturgeon’s bid to break up Britain in his strongest-ever pledge to protect the Union.
He promised the people of Scotland that voting Conservative would put an end to speculation over a second independence referendum for good.
Mr Johnson said: ‘There will be no negotiation – we will mark that letter return to sender and be done with it.’
Writing exclusively for the Scottish Daily Mail today, he said he will ‘never allow there to be another chaotic and divisive independence referendum’.
In contrast, he warned that Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon forming a post-election alliance would hit taxpayers with a £155million bill for two referendums – on Scottish independence and EU membership – next year.
He said the consequence of two polls next year would be ‘grinding the country to a halt’ and reducing the Union ‘to the status of a bargaining chip’.
The strongly-worded message to the people of Scotland came as Mr Johnson prepares to launch the Scottish Tory
manifesto today. Mr Johnson said: ‘If the outcome of this election is a strong Conservative majority government then I can guarantee we will reject any request from the SNP Government to hold an independence referendum.
‘There will be no negotiation. Because people across Scotland already rejected Sturgeon’s plan to break up our Union five years ago, when two million Scots said no to independence. I will never allow there to be another chaotic and divisive independence referendum.’
Mr Johnson said that, if he is elected, he will ‘work every day to make our Union stronger’.
In contrast, he claimed Mr Corbyn will do a deal with Miss Sturgeon that will threaten the Union and result in more ‘dither, deadlock and indecision’.
New analysis by the Tories estimates that the total cost to the public purse of holding a second EU referendum would be £138million, while a second independence referendum would cost an additional £17million. Mr Johnson said: ‘The financial cost of this to taxpayers will be in excess of £155million.
‘But the real cost will be much higher: the chaos of two referendums in 0 0 grinding the country to a halt and the world’s greatest political union reduced to the status of a bargaining chip.’
The Prime Minister said a ‘CorbynSturgeon coalition of chaos’ would also mean more delays for business and result in fishermen remaining ‘shackled to the Common Fisheries Policy’.
He provided a pledge to Scottish fishermen the UK will ‘finally take back control of our fishing waters in December
0 0’. When the Tory manifesto was launched on Sunday, it included a pledge to raise the threshold for paying national insurance to £1 ,500.
It will apply across the UK, as National Insurance remains reserved, but a pledge to protect hard-working families from income tax rises will not apply in Scotland as it is devolved and controlled by the SNP Government.
Mr Johnson said: ‘We will aim to raise the National Insurance threshold to £1 ,500, giving Scottish workers an almost £500 respite from the SNP Government’s higher taxes.’
On Friday, Mr Corbyn confirmed he will consider granting Holyrood the power to hold another referendum after the Holyrood elections in 0 1.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard yesterday reiterated he believes there would be a ‘mandate’ for another vote if there was a pro-independence majority following manifesto commitments to hold a poll.
On the campaign trail in Ochil and South Perthshire yesterday, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said: ‘Only a vote for the SNP can help Scotland escape Brexit, lock the Tories out of power and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.’
Meanwhile, the full findings of a Panelbase poll of 1,009 Scots, published yesterday, show the Scottish Greens are on 0 per cent ahead of the General Election.