'Why sudden change of heart?' SNP skewered for claiming independence ISN'T main priority
A SCOTTISH nationalist was skewered on the BBC for claiming a second independence referendum wasn’t the SNP’s main priority.
SNP: General election ISN’T just about independence
Daily Politics host Jo Coburn turned the tables on Callum McCaig as he said Nicola Sturgeon’s party was not running a General Election campaign based on securing Scottish independence.
Coburn asked: “Is this election for you primarily about a second independence referendum, yes or no?”
To which the incumbent MP for Aberdeen South said: “No, no, I think this election is about who are best people to represent Scotland in Westminster.
“We’re going to have a choice, the battleground has been drawn between the SNP and the Tories and that’s a battle that I’m confident [in].
“I’ve been out speaking to many voters, I don’t ask leading questions, but I ask people what’s important to them, and to some people independence is important.
“But to the vast majority of people, it’s not, it is about who’s best placed to stand up for Scotland in Westminster.”
Having none of it, the BBC host said: “But it was the SNP’s core purpose, fighting for independence.
“Why all of a sudden this change of heart, it’s no longer your priority in an election campaign?”
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Why all of a sudden this change of heart?
Brushing off the observation, the SNP politician tried to turn the conversation over to the Conservative Party for campaigning against a second referendum.
He said: “I think we’ve done that so there is a slight irony in terms of the Tories fighting both the last Scottish Parliament elections, the last council elections and now this General Election on saying no to it.
“I’m of the belief that the Scottish Parliament should be the place to decide whether Scotland has another independence referendum.
“It is decided, we had that vote. The clear vote of the Scottish Parliament is there should be another referendum once the terms of Brexit are known.”
Rounding on the politician, Coburn suggested the SNP were easing off the gas on the subject because Brexit had not played out in their favour, as the party had hoped.
She said: “I wonder if you are playing down the issue of independence in this election because now that the UK’s voted to leave the EU, it has not shifted the balance towards Scottish independence in the way you’d hoped for.”
Denying the claim, Mr McCaig said: “No, I disagree. The SNP has said the only way Scotland will become an independent country is if people vote for that in a referendum.”