Election results show Scotland is ‘certain’ to choose indy says Sturgeon
NICOLA Sturgeon has said she is “certain” that an independent Scotland will be part of “fundamental” change to come for the United Kingdom.
The First Minister was speaking yesterday, following her party’s resounding success at the local elections.
The SNP took the largest share of the council seats across Scotland, winning 453 – a gain of 22 seats.
However, Ms Sturgeon said the results were not a “mandate” for a referendum on the constitution, saying she had already been given such an instruction by voters based on the Scottish Parliament elections last year.
Speaking from Dundee as she celebrated the SNP taking majority control of the city’s council, Ms Sturgeon said: “This election was a local council election.
“I didn’t go into it arguing that it was all about independence, so I’m not going to come out of it and argue that somehow retrospectively it was all about independence.
“People in any election will vote for a whole variety of reasons. In this election, I think they were voting principally because they want more action on the cost-of-living crisis and they want to see the Westminster Government step up, so it was a strong message on that.
“The SNP vote share went up, obviously the leading pro-independence party, and after the SNP the next big winners were the Greens – (another) pro-independence party. So I think that’s significant and we take a lot of heart from it.”
The First Minister said that the picture across the whole of the UK represented a dramatic political shift, with nationalist parties in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all seeing an upturn in their votes.
Ms Sturgeon said Sinn Fein’s performance in Northern Ireland particularly has shown there are “big questions” around the future of the UK “as a political entity”.
She explained: “There’s no doubt there are big fundamental questions being asked of the UK as a political entity right now.
“They’re being asked here in Scotland, they’re being asked in Northern Ireland, they’re being asked in Wales, and I think we’re going to see some fundamental changes to UK governance in the years to come and I am certain one of those changes is going to be Scottish independence.”
Meanwhile, the leader of Scottish Labour has declared that his party is “back” after coming second in Thursday’s poll.
Anas Sarwar was celebrating in Clydebank yesterday and hailed the party’s result as the best in a decade.
However, Mr Sarwar said his party would not settle for second place when it comes to the next General Election.
Addressing journalists in West Dunbartonshire, where his party will form a majority administration in the local authority, the Scottish Labour leader said: “One thing is clear over the last 24 hours and that is the Scottish Labour Party is back.
“We’re back, yes in second place, but we don’t aspire for second place, we aspire for first place, and the same hope and energy we have demonstrated over the last year we will continue so we can get to a place, yes, to boot out Boris from Downing Street, but also to change our politics and change our country here in Scotland.”
When asked how he looked to take first place from the SNP, Mr Sarwar said: “Fourteen months we’ve been in the job and 14 months ago there were claims of Labour being pushed into fourth place – we were at 14 per centin the polls.
“We stopped Armageddon last year, we spent the last year building a credible, futurelooking party that’s demonstrated progress in these elections.
“We’re going to keep up that same energy and that optimism right across the country to be in a place, yes, to do our job, to boot Boris out of Downing Street, and return a UK Labour government.
“But also to demonstrate to people that there is a more hopeful option, a change option here in Scotland that can go away from the bitterness and divisiveness of the SNP.”
When asked if the improvement in Labour’s fortunes was a “blip” because of dissatisfaction over partygate, Mr Sarwar said: “People will see right across the UK that Boris Johnson is not fit to be Prime Minister – he does not deserve to be Prime Minister.
“Every day he stays Prime Minister is a bad day for the United Kingdom, so the sooner we boot him out of office, the better.
“I’m not just waiting for the Tories and the SNP to deserve to lose in the eyes of the people, I want Labour to deserve to win.
“That’s the hope and energy we’re going to continue to demonstrate in the coming weeks, months and years so we can get back on the side of people.”
There’s no doubt there are big fundamental questions being asked of the UK as an entity right now