EXTREMISTS & SEPARATISTS
PM LASHES SNP ON SCOTS VISIT
THERESA May vowed to defend Scotland against ‘extremists and separatists’ yesterday, in her strongest attack yet on Nicola Sturgeon.
In her first General Election campaign visit to Scotland, she warned every SNP vote would help move Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn closer to power.
But her use of the word ‘extremists’ infuriated Nationalists, who claimed she was insulting almost half the electorate.
Mrs May addressed supporters at Crathes Village Hall, in the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency. It is one of seven seats the Tories are set to win from the SNP, according to a recent poll, which would take their total of Scottish MPs to eight.
That would deal a huge blow to Miss Sturgeon’s hopes of trying to
‘Scotland and the UK will flourish together’
break up Britain through a second independence referendum.
Mrs May promised to build an even more secure United Kingdom, saying: ‘That means taking action against the extremists and standing up against the separatists. There is only one party committed to the Union. There is only one candidate for Prime Minister who will stand up and defend the United Kingdom.
‘My commitment is that if you strengthen my hand in the Brexit negotiations, I will work to make sure that Scotland and the UK flourish together.’
Warning against complacency, she added: ‘The other parties are lining up to prop up Jeremy Corbyn. We see it from the Liberal Democrats and we see it from Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party.
‘Every SNP MP who is elected puts Jeremy Corbyn a step closer to moving into Downing Street. And make no mistake, it could happen. The opinion polls were wrong in the 2015 General Election, they were wrong in last year’s referendum and Jeremy Corbyn himself has pointed out he was a 200-1 shot for Labour leader.’
Introducing Mrs May, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson had said: ‘Next week marks ten years since the SNP came to power. That’s ten years with a government that hasn’t prioritised your local school or local services. They’ve prioritised the break-up of our United Kingdom.
‘For much of those ten years, they have been allowed to get away with it. But in the last year, they’ve had the Scottish Conservatives to contend with. Now they have to contend with Theresa May in Number 10.’
SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson said: ‘By referring to extremists and separatists in the
same breath, the Prime Minister risks insulting almost half of the Scottish electorate.
‘Language is important and she needs to clean up her act.’
Scottish Labour general election campaign manager James Kelly said: ‘It’s laughable for Theresa May to claim the Union is safe in her hands. The Tories’ reckless Brexit gamble has given the Nationalists the excuse they were looking for to try to force another independence referendum on the people of Scotland.’
Meanwhile, Miss Sturgeon was
‘She needs to clean up her act’
out campaigning in Glasgow East yesterday.
Natalie McGarry won the seat for the SNP in 2015, but resigned the party whip amid a police investigation into missing money at the campaign group Women for Independence.
Miss McGarry announced last week that she will not stand as an independent.
Miss Sturgeon unveiled David Linden as the new candidate.
Glasgow East has swung between Labour and the SNP, but Miss Sturgeon used the visit to attack the Tories – a clear sign of which rival party she now fears the most.
She said: ‘Here, in the East End of Glasgow, we don’t need to be reminded of what happens when the Tories are in power at Westminster.
‘We’ve seen it over generations and now, even with a small majority, Tory cuts are doing real damage to communities like this one. Every Tory vote risks allowing them to impose deeper cuts, penalise the vulnerable and undermine the Scottish parliament.’