Speaking to SNP activists, Nicola Sturgeon will berate the ‘disrespectful’ Liz Truss for rejecting her referendum demands and urge Scots to break away from the ‘Brexit-based UK economy’.
Nicola Sturgeon to give keynote speech at SNP conference this afternoon
Scottish Prime Minister will accuse Prime Minister Liz Truss of ‘basic disrespect’
Supreme Court begins to hear arguments over referendum powers
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Nicola Sturgeon will berate Liz Truss for having no ‘respect’ today as she gathers SNP activists.
The Scottish Prime Minister will send an optimistic message about independence by saying she is determined to break away from the ‘Brexit-based UK economy’.
And she will blame the Prime Minister for “causing tension and tearing ties between us” – despite provoking anger yesterday by ranting about how she “abhors” the Tories.
The keynote speech comes as the UK’s Supreme Court braces itself to hear legal arguments over whether the Scottish government has the power to hold a new referendum without Westminster’s consent.
Experts predict that Ms. Sturgeon will lose the case, shattering her separatist drive. The SNP leader wants to vote on October 19 next year, though he agrees the final contest should be “once in a generation.”
The Nationalists hold their annual conference in Aberdeen, with members pushing for concrete progress on independence, despite polls suggesting Scots do not see it as a priority and a slim majority still support the union.
Nicola Sturgeon will send an optimistic message about independence, saying she is determined to break away from the ‘Brexit-based UK economy’
Ms Sturgeon will blame Liz Truss (pictured in Prague last week) for ‘causing tension and tearing ties between us’ – despite sparking anger yesterday by ranting about how she ‘abhors’ Tories
Polls have suggested the Tories are on track to lose all their MPs in Scotland at the next general election
In her speech, Ms Sturgeon has promised interventions on the cost of living crisis, amid criticism of the lack of policy commitments at the meeting.
Ms Sturgeon is expected to say: ‘Scottish independence can reset and renew the whole idea of nations working together for the common good.
‘England, Scotland, Wales, the island of Ireland. We will always be the best of friends.
‘We will always be family. But we can achieve a better relationship, a true partnership of equals, if we win Scotland’s independence.’
She is also expected to accuse the British government of ‘denial of Scottish democracy’.
“Full frontal attacks on devolution. A fundamental lack of respect,” she will say.
“It is these that create tensions and weaken the bonds between us.”
She will say, ‘With independence we will show how to break with the low productivity, high inequality, Brexit-based UK economy.’
Ms Sturgeon was reprimanded yesterday by ministers and MPs for inflammatory language after she spat vitriol at the Tories during an interview hinting at a possible election tie with Keir Starmer.
The SNP leader insisted it “isn’t hard to answer” when asked whether Sir Keir or Liz Truss should be in No10, saying: “I detest the Tories and everything they stand for.”
The comments were condemned as a disrespectful slur on a quarter of the Scottish electorate who voted Conservative in the last general election.
They also raised the alarm that Labor and the Scottish nationalists are making a pact to come to power if there is a hung parliament.
Ms Sturgeon admitted her push for a new independence referendum could be blocked by the British Supreme Court this week.
When asked whether a referendum definitely ‘will’ take place on her favorite date of October 19 next year, Ms Sturgeon emphatically only replied that she is ‘confident that this can happen’.
She has said that if the Supreme Court dismisses the case, the SNP will rule on one issue of splitting from the UK at the next general election.
A verdict can take about two months.
Ms Truss toured the stands of the SNP conference in Aberdeen yesterday