Scottish independence is not inevitable: David Mundell attacks Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP referendum stance
Independence is not inevitable, Scottish secretary David Mundell will say today in a speech in Edinburgh, one day before the first anniversary of last year’s Scottish independence referendum.
“The result of the referendum – by over 10 percentage points on the highest turnout of modern times at 85 per cent – demonstrates that the support for the United Kingdom is broad and deep in Scotland,”
Mundell will say, adding: “Nothing that has happened since that decisive result makes independence inevitable.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said earlier this week that the SNP’s manifesto ahead of Scottish parliament elections next year would spell out the conditions that would trigger a second referendum. But Mundell will criticise Sturgeon today, saying:
“Both the First Minister and her predecessor repeatedly asserted that the referendum would be a once in a generation or a once in a lifetime event.
“We’ve had our say, and we want to get on with our lives,” he will add.
“But for those us who support the United Kingdom, that has to mean making the positive case for the United Kingdom.”