Sturgeon to urge voters to grant SNP top seat in Brexit talks

NICOLA Sturgeon is expected to say an SNP victory in the General Election in Scotland would give her a mandate to demand the Prime Minister includes the Scottish Government at the Brexit negotiating table.

Nicola Sturgeon will be campaigning in Hamilton where she is expected to urge voters to hand the SNP a strong voice during Brexit talks. Picture: TSPL

Ms Sturgeon, who will be campaigning in Hamilton with Lanark and Hamilton East candidate Angela Crawley, will visit the town centre.

After a whistlestop tour of TV stations in London on Sunday where she appeared with Andrew Marr and Robert Peston, she returns to Scotland on Monday.

“Now, more than ever, it is vital to have strong SNP voices standing up for Scotland.

“Only then can we stop the Tories at Westminster bartering away Scotland’s jobs and industries in Brexit negotiations.

“This election is not about giving Theresa May a free hand, it’s about strengthening Scotland’s hand, strengthening Scotland’s hand against an unchecked Tory government at Westminster, strengthening Scotland’s hand in Brexit negotiations and strengthening our right to take our own decisions.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie will visit a high street butcher in Hawick, Scottish Borders, as part of his campaign.

He is expected to use the visit to announce the Liberal Democrats will end the Conservative public sector pay cap.

The party says it will mean a £780 pay rise for public sector workers in Scotland.

Mr Rennie will also warn public sector workers are falling well behind inflation under the Conservatives.

He will say the policy is particularly important in the Scottish Borders where general wages are lower than elsewhere in Scotland.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will join General Election candidates Pam Duncan-Glancy and Faten Hameed on a visit to a food bank in Glasgow.

She will visit Ibrox Parish Church, Glasgow South West Foodbank to highlight Labour analysis of Trussell Trust figures that show 488,766 three-day emergency food parcels were handed out under the SNP and Tories.

She is expected to say: “Under the Tories and the SNP nearly half a million emergency food parcels have been handed out to people across Scotland.

“That’s the brutal reality of two governments more obsessed with the constitution than delivering for working families.

“In a country as wealthy as Scotland it should shame the SNP and the Tories that working families can’t afford to feed themselves.”

Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens will visit the University Cafe in Glasgow, where he will meet with the owners to discuss their business and the challenges faced.

Later in the day Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson will deliver the 2017 Orwell Prize Shortlist Lecture at the UCL in London.

The lecture is entitled Nationalism Should Not Be Confused With Patriotism where she will argue the two beliefs are entirely different from one another.