Nicola Sturgeon '˜must rule out' indyref2

The Scottish Conservatives have demanded that Nicola Sturgeon rules out any second referendum on Scottish independence when she meets Theresa May in London.

Nicola Sturgeon meets Theresa May at Bute House in 2016. Picture: Steven Scott Taylor/JP

The call comes after SNP MP Tommy Shepherd yesterday threatened a second independence referendum if the Scottish Parliament fails to support UK Government Brexit legislation.

During a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Sheppard told fellow Scottish MPs: “There are only two ways that this can go from here.

“One is that the United Kingdom government will come to an agreement with the Scottish Government and that the Brexit process will go through with the consent of the Scottish Parliament. The other option is that the UK government will ignore the representations of
Scotland, overrule them and proceed regardless.”

The Tories argued those comments appear to contradict those of Nicola Sturgeon who said in June that she would “reset” the SNP’s timetable for a referendum, following the party’s losses in the general election.

Ahead of her meeting with the Prime Minister today, the party has urged Ms Sturgeon to make clear she will dump the referendum threats – and instead engage with the UK Government to find a common solution on Brexit.

Ross Thomson, MP for Aberdeen South said: “So much for the SNP listening to people - Tommy Shepherd has once again shown the Nationalists will use any excuse to take Scotland back to a second referendum. It’s a complete outrage. Nicola Sturgeon is in Westminster today and she needs to take this threat off the table immediately. End the games - and stop using Brexit to try to split out country in two.”

Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow and the party’s constitution spokesman, said: “The Scottish Conservatives are committed to delivering Brexit in a way that protects the UK internal market and respects devolution. The way to deliver that is through dialogue and compromise - not through the same old tired Nationalist threats. It’s time the SNP listened for once and respected the results of both referendums we have been through.”