Willie Rennie slams SNP record and claims their '˜time is up'

The Liberal Democrats have claimed the SNP's 'time is up' and called on them to join their campaign for a referendum on the UK's Brexit deal, the party's Scottish leader has said.

Willie Rennie address delegates at the Lib Dems conference in Bournmouth. Picture: JP

Willie Rennie slammed Nicola Sturgeon’s party’s record on policing, education and healthcare, and said the SNP had “no vision, a weak team and a poor record”.

Addressing his party’s conference in Bournemouth, the Willie Rennie revealed he would open talks with the Scottish Government this week to argue that voters should be given a chance to “exit from Brexit”.

Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie (centre) listens to a speech by Tim Farron MP at the Liberal Democrats conference. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Party sources said they believed they could convince Nicola Sturgeon’s government to back their call for another vote on EU membership after she was forced to put off plans for a second Scottish independence referendum.

In a BBC interview at the weekend, the Scottish Government’s Brexit minister Michael Russell suggested the SNP was open to the idea of a referendum on the terms of the UK’s Brexit deal.

“I do think there are grounds for saying, at some stage, the final settlement will have to be considered again, but it’s not now,” Mr Russell said.

Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie (centre) listens to a speech by Tim Farron MP at the Liberal Democrats conference. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

He added: “I don’t rule that out by any manner of means but I think we need to sit down and talk about it.”

In his speech in Bournemouth, Mr Rennie said the Lib Dems have a “unique stand” on Brexit that “meets the liberal need in this age of isolation and divisiveness”.

He told activists: “This is an exciting time to have the opportunity to lead on liberal values.

“And I can announce today that we will open talks with the Scottish Government this week to ask them to back our campaign to give the people across the UK the chance of an exit from Brexit.”

However, despite holding out an olive branch on Brexit, Mr Rennie spent much of his speech lambasting the SNP over the record in power.

Echoing complaints from nationalists that the UK Government’s Repeal Bill was a Westminster ‘power grab’ that would “wreck devolution”, the Scottish Lib Dem leader accused the SNP of stripping powers from local government and centralising it at Holyrood.

“The voters will never forgive the Conservatives for a mindless and incompetent pursuit of a damaging Brexit,” Mr Rennie said, “yet whilst the SNP rightly berate the Conservatives for hoarding power in London the SNP reciprocate by hoarding power in Edinburgh.

“The SNP have taken control of powers from councils. They’ve taken control of the fire service. They’ve taken control of the police Of social care. Of enterprise and economic development. We hear that highways could be taken too. And now they are planning to take control of education.”

He added: “Councils came together in the 1980s to help form the Constitutional Convention, to challenge the Thatcher Government and draw up plans for devolution.

“The SNP Scottish Government is on a path to strip out of public life the challenging voice of Scottish local government.

“Just like the Conservatives they are opposed to challenge. So that is a threat to the existence of local councils.”

The Scottish Government is set to hold separate cross-party talks this week with Conservatives at the Scottish Parliament, in a bid to reach a single position on amendments to the Repeal Bill. Devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales are set to publish a list of changes they want to see this week.

Mr Russell is also expected to set out over 100 individual powers in devolved areas including agriculture and the environment that the SNP believes will be taken by Westminster if the legislation goes ahead as drafted.