Nicola Sturgeon today vowed to pay the fees for any EU citizens who want to stay in Britain after Brexit.
The Scottish First Minister said it was wrong for people who have lived and paid taxes to have to pay for new ‘settled status’ after March 2019. Registration is thought likely to cost around £72 a head.
The SNP leader made the promise as the nationalists gathered in Glasgow for their annual conference.
Ms Sturgeon insisted her party was in good health as she refused to apologise for overseeing a slide in support that cost the SNP 21 seats.
Polls suggest the next Scottish Parliament will not now have a majority in favour of a new independence referendum – potentially ending the SNP dream for decades.
A defiant Ms Sturgeon used TV interviews at the start of her conference today to insist the case for independence was stronger than ever.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show) today refused to apologise to her party for overseeing a slide in support that cost the SNP 21 seats
As the nationalists gathered in Glasgow for their annual conference, the SNP leader insisted to the BBC’s Andrew Marr (right today) the party was in good health
Asked if she would apologise for the setbacks, Ms Sturgeon told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: ‘I think the BBC needs a reality check – there was an opinion poll published in Scotland yesterday. The SNP is 17 points clear of our nearest rival.
‘We are polling at a higher level a year after the last Scottish election (as last time). When I became SNP leader we had six SNP MPs in the House of Commons.
‘We have 35 MPs today. The 2015 election was an exceptional election, an exceptional result in the immediate aftermath of the referendum.’
Told she was showing no contrition to her party, the SNP leader added: ‘I regret every seat we lost and we reflect very, very carefully on that.
‘The Tories are back in third place in Scottish polls.
‘All in all the SNP is in a very, very strong position. My job as SNP leader, as First Minister of Scotland, is to make sure that trust we have we retain.’
Theresa May and Ruth Davidson used the Tory conference to claim they had ‘saved the Union’ after defying Ms Sturgeon’s call for a new independence referendum over Brexit.
Ms Sturgeon spluttered during the interview with Marr – in which she revealed her fears at a similar disaster when she addresses the party faithful on Tuesday
The SNP leader dropped the plans after the general election but insisted today her demand was undimmed.
She said: ‘People watch the chaos engulfing the UK right now and as people look ahead they can see the damage that is likely to be done by this unfolding disaster.
‘It is not just Brexit but this incompetent, chaotic approach to Brexit being presided over by Theresa May.
‘With Scotland being taken down that path against our will, the case for Scotland’s future being in Scotland’s hands and us being more in control of the decisions that shape our destiny – I think that case becomes stronger by the day.
‘It’s a case I and the SNP will continue to make.’
Ms Sturgeon spluttered during the interview with Marr – in which she revealed her fears at a similar disaster when she addresses the party faithful on Tuesday.
She said: ‘I would defy any politician to have watched her speech and not feel a sense of sympathy and perhaps a sense of ”but for the grace of God there go I”.
‘But I don’t think the speech itself was the problem for Theresa May.’