Nicola Sturgeon’s remarks followed a media report claiming that Liz Truss is considering changes to independence referendum rules
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. © Getty Images / Andy Buchanan
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has claimed that the incoming UK Prime Minister Liz Truss could turn out to be “a disaster not only for Scotland but for all of the UK.”
Her remarks came in response to a Sunday Times report suggesting that Truss’ team was considering raising the vote threshold for a potential second Scottish independence referendum.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, a day before the foreign secretary was revealed as the winner of the leadership contest, Sturgeon said talk about blocking a referendum or “gerrymandering the rules” was a sign of “fundamental weakness.”
According to Sunday Times, Truss is looking into passing a new law that would ban another independence referendum until polls show that 60% of the Scottish population supports a new plebiscite for at least a year. The current level of support for the referendum is significantly lower than the potential threshold, according to a recent survey conducted by The Sunday Times.
“Just because you fear losing a democratic contest, it is not an excuse or does not make it acceptable to rewrite the rules of democracy,” said Sturgeon, who wants to hold a second referendum in October.
In the 2014 referendum, Scots voted by 55% to 44% to remain in the UK but, after Brexit, Sturgeon renewed her bid to achieve independence for Scotland.
In the same interview with Sky News, the first minister also accused Truss of focusing on the “obsessions” of “a very, very tiny number of Conservative Party members” rather than on the needs of ordinary people who “desperately need help to feed the children and heat their homes.”
“If she governs as she has campaigned over the summer, she will be a disaster, not just for Scotland but for all of the UK,” Sturgeon said.
She claimed it would become clear whether Truss “is going to govern as a PM with a focus on real priorities of the country or not” within the first 24 to 48 hours of her premiership.
