Ross warns of SNP’S ‘cynical ploy’ to gain votes for independence
Scottish Tory leader insists Sturgeon’s vow to tackle Covid crisis will come second to a UK breakaway
NICOLA STURGEON will break her promise to focus solely on the pandemic and start planning for independence on “day one” of her new government, the Scottish Tory leader has warned voters in today’s Holyrood election.
Douglas Ross told The Daily Telegraph that Scots who plan to vote SNP because they approve of her performance in tackling Covid but do not want another referendum soon should prepare to be “disappointed”.
He predicted Ms Sturgeon would claim all their votes as support for breaking up the UK when the final result is announced on Saturday, despite her telling a TV debate this week that Scots who oppose a referendum should still vote SNP.
In a direct message to voters who believe they can safely back the SNP today without endorsing separation, he urged them not to fall for her “cynical ploy” of pivoting away from independence to her Covid performance in the final week of the campaign.
The SNP has delivered leaflets across the country showing an image of a podium similar to the one she stands behind during her televised Covid briefings with the slogan: “On May 6, every vote counts in deciding who will be First Minister.”
With opinion polls showing that an SNP majority is on a knife edge, and turnout is likely to be decisive, Ms Sturgeon today said: “If I am re-elected First Minister, I guarantee I’ll be back at my desk straight away tackling the pandemic.”
But Mr Ross said her timetable for holding another separation vote by the end of 2023 would mean the SNP would have to start work immediately on plans for a new independence prospectus to replace the White Paper used in the 2014 referendum.
Asked yesterday if he should allow a referendum if people in Scotland voted for pro-independence parties, Boris Johnson said: “Well, let’s wait and see what actually happens.”
Speaking while campaigning in the English local elections, he said: “I think that most people in Scotland, most people around the whole of the UK, feel that this is not the time, as we’re coming forward out of a pandemic together, this is not the time to have a reckless, and I think irresponsible, second referendum.
“We had one only a few years ago – I think what most people want is to focus on the country and taking it forward and rebuilding our economy and getting people into work. That seems to me to be the priority.”
Scots today go to the polls to elect 129 MSPS using two ballot papers. One is for their constituency MSP, elected under a first past the post system, and another for their regional list MSPS, allocated using a complex form of proportional representation.
Several more opinion polls published yesterday indicated that Ms Sturgeon’s SNP is on course to win a majority that she plans to use to increase pressure on Mr Johnson to drop his opposition to a vote.
If he refuses, she plans to push through her own referendum Bill at Holyrood and challenge him to block it in court.
Pressed during a BBC Scotland TV debate on Tuesday about what voters should do if they “want you but don’t want independence”, Ms Sturgeon said: “They should vote for me on Thursday safe in the knowledge that getting us through this crisis is my priority.”
But Mr Ross said: “I think people have to realise that a vote for Nicola Sturgeon or a vote for the SNP will be taken by them as a vote to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK.
“They will immediately after the election result claim that every single vote cast for the nationalists is a vote in favour of another independence referendum.”
Referring to polls and focus groups showing some voters intend to back the SNP despite opposing a referendum, Mr Ross said: “Those people should be prepared to be disappointed by Nicola Sturgeon.
“The final piece of legislation they pushed through the last Scottish Parliament was their independence Bill and it will be one of the first they try to get through the next Parliament if they get a majority.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “After a year of unprecedented challenge for all of us, the country needs experienced leadership to take Scotland through the pandemic.”
‘Immediately after the election result the SNP will claim that every vote cast for them is a vote in favour of a second referendum’