NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO HOLD A REFERENDUM
May: Scots should work with us on Brexit deal
THERESA May slapped down Nicola Sturgeon yesterday as she ruled out a second referendum on Scottish independence until after we have quit the EU.
The Prime Minister said: “Right now, we should be working together, not pulling apart. We should be working together to get that right deal for Scotland, that right deal for the UK. For that reason I say to the SNP: now is not the time.”
Ministers also made it clear there would be no “discussions or negotiations” with the Scottish Parliament until Brexit is complete in 2019.
The First Minister, who said this week a second Scottish vote must be held between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, branded the PM’s decision “undemocratic”. Ms Sturgeon said: “It is for the Scottish Parliament – not Downing Street – to determine the timing of a referendum.”
The SNP leader also suggested Mrs May’s slap-down would play into the hands of nationalists, adding: “History may look back on today and see it as the day the fate of the union was sealed.”
Ms Sturgeon looks set to win a vote on the move in Holyrood on Wednesday with the support of the Scottish Green Party – but the final decision remains with Westminster.
Meanwhile, the PM will use a speech at the Tory spring conference in Cardiff today to tell the people of Scotland she wants them to stay in the “precious, precious” UK. And she will urge Britain to “pull together” as she prepares for Brexit talks.