Nicola Sturgeon to declare ‘it is time’ for Scotland to be an independent country
3 min read
Nicola Sturgeon will declare that it is “time for Scotland to become independent” as she calls on Theresa May to U-turn on ministers' refusal to consider a fresh referendum.
The First Minister will tell the SNP conference that it would be “undemocratic” for UK ministers to refuse Scots the chance of a second public vote by May 2021.
The party’s leader last week announced that she wants to have another poll, before the next Scottish Parliament elections in two years' time, so long as the UK has left the European Union.
However Downing Street later hit back, and the PM’s de facto deputy David Lidington added: “We don’t see any evidence that there’s a demand from the people of Scotland for changing the decision they took in 2014.”
Scots voted 55% to 45% to remain in the UK when the first one was held five years ago, however SNP ministers say they have a mandate for another vote after the country voted to stay in the EU in 2016 while the UK as a whole voted to quit the bloc.
Ms Sturgeon will today tell delegates in Edinburgh that the Brexit process had shown "that for Scotland the Westminster system is broken”.
“Scotland needs the choice of a better future. Scotland needs an independent future,” she will say.
“The UK government says it will block Scotland’s right to choose.
“A right to choose mandated in not just one but two Scottish elections. And endorsed by the Scottish parliament.
“The Tories say they and not the people of Scotland will decide. They say Westminster should have a veto.
“Their only friends in Parliament are the Democratic Unionist Party. Well, if they’re not careful, this generation of Tories will go down in history as the Undemocratic Unionist Party."
Citing a new YouGov poll which puts support for independence at 49%, the FM will add: “On Thursday, they tried to justify their position by saying there was no upsurge in support for independence.
“Two days later the latest opinion poll was already proving them wrong. It shows support for independence already up. “So our job now is to get it surging.
“And ensure that no Tory government can ever stand in the way of Scotland’s right to choose.”
INDEPENDENCE AHEAD UNDER NO DEAL
Elsewhere a separate poll by Panelbase for the Sunday Times found that while Scots want to remain in the UK by 53% to 47%, support grows to show 52% in favour of it under the prospect of the UK quitting the EU without a deal.
Meanwhile a clear majority (59% to 41%) believes independence would be better for Scotland than a no-deal Brexit, while 51% thought independence would be preferable to remaining in the UK but outside the EU with a deal, to 49%.
The speech on Sunday afternoon will comes just a day after the conference backed proposals for a new currency in an independent Scotland "as soon as practicable".
The vote risks sparking a split between the membership and the leadership, which had favoured a more gradual transition from the pound should voters choose to leave the UK.
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