Second referendum for independence ‘will be at the heart of Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP manifesto’

Second referendum for Scottish independence ‘will be at the heart of Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP manifesto and any coalition dealings with Labour’

  • Sturgeon said her party’s message would be ‘clear, simple and unambiguous
  • SNP are confident of picking up seats from both Labour and the Conservatives
  • At present they have 35 MPs – down from 56 they picked up at the 2015 election

Nicola Sturgeon will put the SNP’s push for a second independence referendum at the heart of her election campaign.

The first minister of Scotland said that her party’s message would be ‘clear, simple and unambiguous – vote SNP to demand independence and secure Scotland’s right to choose’.

The Scottish nationalists are confident of picking up a string of seats from both Labour and the Conservatives.

At present they have 35 MPs – down from the 56 they picked up at the 2015 general election – their high water mark.

The first minister of Scotland said that her party’s message would be ‘clear, simple and unambiguous – vote SNP to demand independence and secure Scotland’s right to choose’

If Jeremy Corbyn fails to secure a Labour majority, it is likely he would be forced to ask the SNP for their support in propping up his government.

That means he may have to sign up for a second independence referendum in 2020 – six years after the last one. 

At her party conference in Aberdeen earlier this month, Miss Sturgeon was explicit that in the event of a hung parliament her party would make having another independence ballot an automatic condition for gaining the SNP’s support.

While she insisted her party would ‘never put the Tories into power’ her message to Mr Corbyn was: ‘If you don’t respect Scotland’s right to choose our own future at a time of our own choosing, don’t even bother picking up the phone’.

Mr Corbyn said on a recent trip north of the border that there would be ‘no pacts with any other party’.

Yesterday the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford welcomed an election. He said: ‘We on these benches are simply not prepared to sit back and allow Scotland to be taken out of the European Union against its will. 

So on that basis, Mr Speaker, I welcome the opportunity of an election, because make no mistake, the election that’s coming is going to be the right of Scotland to determine its own future.’

Earlier he told BBC Scotland that if Brexit went ahead a referendum on independence would be an insurance policy ‘making sure we stay in Europe’. 

He added: ‘We want to see Boris Johnson defeated and out of No 10.’

 

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