THERESA May has been warned by the SNP’s Angus Robertson that her “days as Prime Minister of a united Kingdom are numbered,” if she fails to protect Scotland’s place within the European Union.
The blunt warning from the Nationalists’ Westminster leader came as he launched his bid to become Nicola Sturgeon’s party deputy, insisting Scotland was “truly on the brink of independence”.
However, a poll today of just over 1,000 people carried out by YouGov for the pro-UK Scotland in Union campaign, suggested that a large number of Scots do not want a second independence referendum anytime soon.
The snapshot, carried out between July 20 and 25, found 32 per cent of Scots thought the nation should wait for the Brexit deal before repeating the 2014 ballot while 25 per cent said they did not want another vote on independence until at least 2030. A further 17 per cent said Scotland should never have another referendum while 16 per cent made clear they wanted one as soon as possible.
Alex Salmond, the former First Minister, has suggested a second independence poll should take place within the two-year window of the Brexit talks; Theresa May has made clear such talks will not begin this year, meaning their completion is likely to be sometime in 2019, just a year out from the 2020 General Election.
In a speech in Edinburgh, Mr Robertson upped the political rhetoric over Brexit, describing the Conservative leader as the “most right-wing prime minister since Margaret Thatcher”.
Insisting Scotland was on the cusp of a new independent future, he claimed the UK had, since the referendum of two years ago, become the “risky option”.
He stressed: “And since the Brexit vote, this is about to get much, much worse.”
The UK and Scottish governments appear to be set on a collision course over the UK’s historic decision to leave the EU.
Mrs May has been adamant that “Brexit means Brexit” and that the UK Government will deliver on the will of the British people. No 10 has also made clear that the First Minister’s desire to keep Scotland within the EU, while the UK departs it, is “impracticable”.
But Ms Sturgeon is equally determined that, given on June 23 that 62 per cent of Scots supported the UK staying in the EU, “Remain means Remain”. The FM has already said the prospect of Scotland being torn out of the EU against its wishes meant a second independence poll was now “highly likely”.
Mr Robertson, 46, the favourite - over MEP Alyn Smith, fellow MP Tommy Sheppard and councillor Christopher McEleny - to succeed his colleague Stewart Hosie as SNP deputy leader, emphasised his background in his pitch for the role, including how he had been the party’s campaign director for the successful Holyrood elections in 2007 and 2011.
But his strongest theme was on Brexit, denouncing Mrs May for dismissing the options for keeping Scotland in the EU as “impracticable” and telling her: “If you ignore the expressed will of the people of Scotland, if you refuse to even consider how we might protect Scotland’s place in the EU, then be in no doubt; your days as Prime Minister of a united Kingdom are numbered.”
His warning came as the Tory leader continued her tour of European capitals, telling journalists in Bratislava “a solution” had to be found, which simultaneously addressed the concerns of the British people about curbing the free movement of migrant workers while getting the best possible deal for the UK on trade in goods and services.
After meeting her Slovakian counterpart Robert Fico, the PM said that the referendum vote had delivered a very clear message; that people "did not want free movement to continue as it had done previously and do want some control over the movement of citizens from the EU to the UK".
Nonetheless, she insisted Brexit was “an opportunity to intensify" relations with Britain’s European partners.
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