The war in Ukraine will not affect the timing of a second independence referendum, Nicholas Sturgeon said, as he refused to rule out action after Scotland’s information commissioner ordered her government to publish its legal advice for a second referendum.
The leader of the Scottish National Party and the Prime Minister also called on the UK government to take a four-nation approach to alleviating the cost of living crisis, just as it did during the pandemic.
Amid growing fears that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will continue next year, Sturgeon said: “I have not changed my position on the timetable for which we won the mandate in last year’s election.
Sturgeon was speaking aboard the rocky yellow SNP election bus after knocking on doors around Glasgow with candidates for the council this Thursday. The party’s local manifesto includes a reiteration of its commitment to hold a second referendum on independence in Holyrood in 2021 by the end of 2023.
There is growing speculation that the ongoing war in Europe could affect this timetable and that the party’s position for an independent Scotland-free tribe is at odds with public sentiment during an international conflict.
Sturgeon acknowledged that “everyone in the European Union is fundamentally rethinking defense and security”, but insisted that this did not mean the need for a more flexible post-independence nuclear weapons policy.
“My party is very strong in principle and for practical reasons against nuclear weapons, and that will not change. We must remember that the vast majority of countries in the world do not have nuclear weapons.
The issue of NATO membership has divided nationalist views – the SNP changed its policy in 2012 to stay in the alliance if Scotland becomes independent, leading to the resignation of three EU members. Sturgeon said her party needed to be “much more committed” to what an independent Scotland would bring to NATO. “What would be the specializations and expertise we could put on the table to be a much more constructive partner in this security union?”
Last week, Scotland’s information commissioner ordered the Sturgeon government to publish its legal advice on whether it would have the necessary powers to hold a second referendum without Westminster’s consent – which Boris Johnson has consistently refused – following a long battle for freedom of information with the Scotsman. Do the ministers plan to publish this information or challenge the decision in court?
“The commissioner has made his decision, the deadline is now June 10. Every government will carefully consider all aspects of this, and I will not prevent this consideration,” Sturgeon said.
“The question is not whether the Scottish government will comply with the law. We’ll. The question is whether political opponents and indeed Democrats are ready to argue their cases democratically and allow people to decide.
The SNP, the largest local government party and now in power in Holyrood for 15 years, faces serious challenges to its reputation for competence, including delays and mismanagement of vital ferry services and growing waiting times at the NHS while protests from funding cuts handed over to local services after the last Scottish budget.
But recent opinion polls suggest the party will maintain its dominance, although Panelbase’s latest tracking tool for the Sunday Times has support for the party, which has fallen six points since last November.
Scottish Labor is expected to push the Conservatives to third place as pro-union voters react to Partygate. But as the constitution continues to govern electoral choice, election expert Sir John Curtis said any poll in Scotland was a “quasi-referendum”.
“The anger at Partygate, the nourishment and nourishment of anger and real suffering that people are experiencing about the cost of living, is palpable,” Sturgeon said.
She dismissed recent remarks by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross that Johnson was “fit for office”, although he had previously called for the prime minister to resign.
“He has rightly received some credit for this – it is not easy within his own party – but then to make the U-turn he has made and now to challenge all evidence to the contrary that Boris Johnson is in fact fit to be a minister. President, he seems unprincipled, inconsistent, determined and a little stupid. “
At the start of his party’s council manifesto, Sturgeon promised a “pandemic” response to the cost of living crisis, stressing the doubling of the new weekly payment for children for low-income families, the municipal tax reduction scheme and efforts to reduce fuel poverty.
She is now calling for a concerted effort by four nations, as happened during the Covid crisis, a point she said she raised last week with Michael Gove.
“Inevitably this should involve a lot more action by the UK government, because most of the resources and levers lie there.” engaged. ”
Scotland elects councilors through proportional representation, which makes coalitions and minority administrations the norm, but Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar has ruled out deals with other parties.
“What he’s telling me,” she said, “is that Anas Sarwar is a politician, deep in opposition thinking, that he’s not someone who’s still close to thinking about what it means to be in power and take responsibility.” “.
“In the STV election, if you have this position, then you are practically freezing in opposition.
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