NOW STURGEON GETS ABOARD ‘THE NICOLOPTER’
With her personal popularity plunging and a surge in Scottish Tory support, Sturgeon embarks on frantic airborne campaign tour
NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday took to the skies in a helicopter dubbed the ‘Nicolopter’ by Nationalists – as Tories warned her independence obsession will cost her job.
She will fly to 30 constituencies in a bid to save senior SNP figures such as Angus Robertson, Alex Salmond and Pete Wishart in this week’s General Election battle.
But after Miss Sturgeon’s popularity rating plummeted, the SNP decided not to put her picture on the helicopter as they did in the 2015 General Election campaign.
Support for the Tories has surged north of the Border, with the party hoping to claim several SNP scalps on Thursday.
And in today’s Scottish Mail on Sunday, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson warns of the consequences if Miss Sturgeon does not end her independence threats and concentrate on improving the economy, education and NHS. Miss Davidson urges Scots voters to ‘send the SNP a message’ at the polling booth on Thursday ‘by saying No to a second referendum, by clipping the SNP’s wings and by making Nicola Sturgeon realise that, if she carries on with this obsession, it’ll be her job next’.
Last week, a poll revealed Miss Sturgeon now has the lowest popularity rating of any leader at Holyrood. Half of all respondents said they were dissatisfied with her performance as First Minister, compared with 46 per cent who were satisfied, giving her a ‘satisfaction rating’ of minus 4 – that’s 18 points lower than the last time the question was asked in September last year.
The SNP also opted not to use their leader’s picture on the front of its manifesto last week, unlike in 2015. And Westminster leader Angus Robertson represented the party in the UK leaders’ debate, despite Miss Sturgeon doing so two years ago. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie observed: ‘As her popularity has nosedived, Nicola has gone from walking on water to the invisible woman in just two years.’
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser added: ‘Clearly, SNP chiefs regard brand Nicola a risk to the overall campaign. That’s no wonder when she is now the most unpopular party leader in Scotland.
‘The irony of a politician campaigning against austerity while flying around the country in a hired helicopter will not be lost on many voters either.’ Scottish Labour campaign manager James Kelly MSP said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon might enjoy travelling first class, but down on the streets of Scotland the tide is turning against her plan for another divisive independence referendum. ‘With Nicola Sturgeon’s approval ratings in free fall, it’s no wonder the SNP leader’s face doesn’t appear on the helicopter or manifesto front page like it did last time.’ Miss Sturgeon covered 300 miles and six constituencies yesterday – Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire and Arran, Ayr Carrick and Cumnock, Dumfries and Galloway, and Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale. But as she did so new figures revealed Scotland is now the only part of the UK with a growing defi- cit – dealing a blow to her independence hopes. And Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned the country’s defences will be weaker if Miss Sturgeon props up Mr Corbyn in Downing Street after June 8.
The south of Scotland, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire are all seeing a Tory surge and the SNP has become increasingly focused on attacking the Conservatives. It will send out two million leaflets criticising Conservative pension proposals to homes across Scotland, in a bid to win the grey vote. Meanwhile, the
‘Brand Nicola a risk to the campaign’
Scottish Mail on Sunday has seen a secret Tory dossier attacking ‘lies’ in the SNP manifesto over independence, Holyrood powers, fishing and NHS privatisation.
The dossier says the SNP General Election blueprint is misleading and ‘purely negative’ and explains how candidates should counter it on the doorstep.
Miss Sturgeon has attempted to downplay the significance of independence to the election but the Tory dossier warns: ‘The SNP 2015 manifesto promised that it wasn’t
about independence either – and look how that went.’
The SNP manifesto also promised that its MPs would ‘demand an end to austerity’.
But the Tory dossier points out that Scottish Government spending, which remains largely funded by Westminster, has been boosted by 4.5 per cent in real terms to £37.95billion since the SNP came to power 2007. The manifesto also claimed: ‘The European Single Market represents in excess of 500 million consumers – eight times the size of the UK market.’
That is true for population, but not trade or jobs – the figures that really matter. In fact, exports to the rest of the UK are worth four times more than those to the EU, and support more than 500,000 Scottish jobs.
Miss Sturgeon has promised the SNP will prop up Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street if the Conservatives fail to win a majority – even if Theresa May leads the biggest party after June 8.
Yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘The Tories’ austerity agenda has failed on every count. Not only has it choked off the economic recovery but the years of underinvestment have put huge pressure on public services.
‘We simply can’t go on with more of the same, but that is exactly what the Tories are planning to do – and this snap election has presented a golden opportunity for voters across Scotland to say enough is enough.’