Stand up for Scotland, Sturgeon urges voters
Theresa May is trying to impose a hard Brexit with the announcement of a snap general election, Nicola Sturgeon said, as she urged voters north of the border to “stand up for Scotland”.
The First Minister accused the Prime Minister of using the surprise June 8 poll to seek to make the UK more right wing and “force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts”.
Ms Sturgeon said on Twitter: “The Tories see a chance to move the UK to the right, force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts. Let’s stand up for Scotland.”
Nicola Sturgeon
Well, well. If @theresa_may wants a fight she can have one. Gives @theSNP chance to seek a fresh mandate. No ifs, no buts. Let's get started — Tommy Sheppard MP (@TommySheppard) April 18, 2017
SNP depute leader Angus Robertson said the shock poll would be a “straight choice in Scotland” between the SNP and the Tories.
With the Brexit vote and its aftermath having already resulted in a stand-off between the Prime Minister and Ms Sturgeon over the prospect of a second vote on independence, Mr Robertson said on Twitter: “Whatever happened to ‘now is not the time’? UK General Election: 8th June. Straight choice in Scotland between @theSNP and Tories. #VoteSNP”
In recent months Downing Street has repeatedly denied any suggestion that there could be a general election before May 2020, the time the next ballot was scheduled to take place.
Whatever happened to 'now is not the time'? UK General Election: 8th June. Straight choice in Scotland between @theSNP and Tories. #VoteSNP — Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) April 18, 2017
At the same time Mrs May has insisted that “now is not the time” for another Scottish independence vote, despite claims from the SNP that another referendum is necessary to give Scots a choice between leaving the UK and Brexit.
While polls continue to show the SNP well ahead of all other political parties in Scotland, the nationalists will struggle to replicate the success of the 2015 referendum when they won all but three of the Scottish seats at Westminster.
In a longer statement from the SNP, Ms Sturgeon described the announcement as “one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history”, and said Mrs May is “once again putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the country”.
Scotland’s First Minister said: “She is clearly betting that the Tories can win a bigger majority in England given the utter disarray in the Labour Party.”
Ms Sturgeon said it was “a huge political miscalculation” by the Prime Minister.