THERESA May savaged Nicola Sturgeon’s independence hopes today as she insisted Scotland would be crippled financially outside of the UK.
In another push to keep the union together, the Prime Minister said the alarming slide in oil prices had proved the alliance that “really matters” for Scotland is the one with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
She said funding for Scottish public services “remained unscathed” because Scotland could share in the UK’s wider economic “success”.
Mrs May separately insisted the SNP must take its share of the blame for allowing those “at the top” to flourish while the working class feel forgotten.
“That feeling is as strong in Scotland as it is anywhere else in the UK,” she said.
The double blast came in a Facebook post where the PM insisted the Tory Government was committed to building a country that worked for everyone.
It follows repeated threats from the Ms Sturgeon's SNP to hold another independence referendum in protest at June’s bombshell Brexit vote and Scotland being dragged out of the EU against the country’s will. Scotland voted Remain.
But in her pre-Tory conference post Mrs May said: “It has become even clearer in recent months that the union which really matters to Scotland’s future is its union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“Our centuries-long ties of people, trade, history, culture and values.
“The fall in oil prices demonstrates just how crucial that relationship is financially: Scotland was able to weather that downturn because of the UK’s broad shoulders.
“Tax revenues from the North Sea collapsed, but funding for Scottish public services remained unscathed.
The PM once more insisted the Government would engage fully and listen to the Scottish Government on options for Brexit.