Davidson BLASTS Sturgeon for 'dragging Scotland back to ANOTHER independence referendum'
NICOLA STURGEON'S plan to impose a second independence referendum on the Scottish people before Brexit has been savaged by Ruth Davidson.
Davidson: You can't drag Scotland back to another referendum
The Conservative Party leader in Scotland insisted Scots do not want another divisive vote on independence before having all facts on the table.
Criticising the First Minister for making the second referendum a cornerstone in the SNP’s General Election strategy, Ms Davidson said Scotland should not be dragged into another independence vote.
She told Channel 4 News: “I agree with the Prime Minister and it is my position too that you can’t drag Scotland back to an independence referendum to decide its constitutional future when the people of Scotland don’t know what that looks like.
“They don’t know what Brexit looks like or how it is going to play out and they don’t know what independence looks like because the SNP hasn’t laid that out.
“Nor should you drag the people of Scotland back to a divisive independence referendum when the people themselves don’t want it and there is not majority support for another independence referendum.”
In a speech ahead of Thursday’s local government elections, Ms Davidson told supporters only the Scottish Conservatives could stand up to the SNP and halt a second referendum.
She said: “We’re not opposed to a referendum simply because we’re Unionists, we’re opposed to it because we want Scotland to focus back on the things that matter.
“Of course, Nicola Sturgeon in now trying to face both ways. Telling the faithful that independence is at the heart of her campaign and telling the rest of us it couldn’t be further from her mind.
Ruth Davidson SLAMS Nicola Sturgeon over independence claims
You can’t drag Scotland back to an independence referendum
“It didn’t look very convincing when she posed astride a motorbike festooned with Yes stickers. Like a Nat out of Hell!
“We all know the truth of it. They’ll play down independence during a campaign then afterwards they’ll claim any advance in their support as a mandate for nothing but.”
Ms Davidson also urged supporters to “combat the SNP power grab which has sucked power out of local communities across Scotland these last ten years”.
She said: “For all the attention we focus on Westminster and Holyrood, on Thursday we decide on how best we can improve the running of our schools; how to boost transport; how to bring jobs, support business and regenerate our local economies and how to restore vibrancy to our high streets.
“And we do something more as well. Because the other question on the ballot paper on Thursday is this: Who will stand up against the SNP?”
Ms Davidson added: “The SNP Government in Edinburgh isn’t Scotland. It shouldn’t get to decide everything that happens in our Borderland communities, to our island villages, in our powerhouse cities.
“Let’s restore energy, vitality and power to those cities, towns and villages. Because that’s where Scotland’s powerbase really lies – not in Holyrood or Nicola Sturgeon’s First Ministerial office.”
Ms Sturgeon, however, insisted the General Election, due to take place on June 8, was about deciding whether Theresa May’s Government would decide the fate of Scotland, or Scots themselves.
She said: “This election as far as the independence question is concerned is really a choice between whether the decision on when another referendum should be one for the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people or one for the Tory Government at Westminster.
“I think it should be for the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people and that is what I’m asking people to endorse.”