Nicola Sturgeon urged to use Trump's Scottish links

Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to use Donald Trump's Scottish connections to get the US president to advise Prime Minister Theresa May about the 'outrageous way' Scotland is being treated in Brexit negotiations. The plea has been made in a letter to the First Minister from former SNP leader Gordon Wilson.

A piper greets Donald Trump on the tarmac on a previous visit to Scotland. Picture: Donald MacLeod

Mr Wilson wrote: “For the first time, the president of the United States has strong Scottish connections and controversial though his political views may be, it is the duty of the Scottish Government to use these connections to Scotland’s advantage, especially when we are facing a ‘British’ government demonstrating an indifference to Scottish interests bordering on hostility.

“It is therefore not unreasonable for you as head of the Scottish Government to ask president Trump to make it a condition of any intended trade deal with the UK that the outcome of the Brexit negotiations should be fair to all parts of the UK, rather than solely suit the interests of England.”

Brexit minister Michael Russell’s spokesman said: “It is quite true to say that the Tories, with just one MP out of 59 in Scotland, have no mandate for the catastrophic hard Brexit they are pursuing – but they now think they can do what they want to Scotland and get away with it.

“The Scottish Government will continue to pursue every possible option to keep our place in the European single market.”