SNP insists independence vote as Brexit alternative
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THE Scottish National Party will push for a new referendum on independence as an alternative to Brexit, party leader Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday, as the SNPdigs its heels in on an issue that may cost her party support in Britain’s June 8 election.
“There is just too much at stake for Brexit simply to be imposed on Scotland, no matter how damaging it turns out to be,” Sturgeon, who is also first minister of the devolved Scottish government, told a launch of the SNP’s policy offer to voters.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected the SNP’s demand for a new choice on secession, saying that with Britain about to leave the European Union this is not the time for another vote, without saying when that time might be.
Sturgeon wants a new choice to be offered when it is clear what Brexit means.
The SNPwould ensure that Scotland’s voice was heard, Sturgeon said, and the party would push for Scotland to stay in the single market even as Britain leaves it. But SNPproposals along those lines, presented in December, were rejected by May’s government.
The SNP’s policy document said there was no “rational argument” for leaving the single market.
Scots rejected independence by a 10-point margin in 2014, and polls show support has not shifted since then. But Sturgeon says a new choice should be offered because Scottish voters voted last year to remain in the EU, while the UK as a whole voted to leave
The SNPis the dominant party representing Scotland in the British parliament, with 54 of 59 seats. It also runs the devolved Scottish government, which has authority over health, education and transport and some portion of taxes.
Polls appear to show that while the SNPwill easily win the election in Scotland, the Conservatives will take some seats from them by sticking to practically one policy — opposing independence.
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