Category Archives: Scottish National party (SNP)

SNP election win: Johnson sets up summit as Sturgeon pledges second referendum

Posted on by

First minister says there is ‘no democratic justification’ for No 10 denying second vote

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press ahead with plans for a second independence referendum after the Scottish National party won its fourth consecutive Holyrood election, triggering a constitutional battle with Boris Johnson.

In a letter issued before the final results were declared, Johnson attempted to blunt Sturgeon’s attack by urging the first minister and her opposite numbers in Wales and Northern Ireland to join a UK-wide Covid recovery summit involving all four governments.

Continue reading...

Elections 2021: Labour wins mayoral races in Greater Manchester and West of England, holds Welsh Senedd – live

Posted on by

All the latest news and results as counts continue in England and Scotland after Thursday’s elections

Scotland’s first list results are out, with Central Scotland declaring the following:

First list declaration out - for Central Scotland, it's Leonard (Lab) Kerr (Con), Lennon (Lab), Simpson (Con), Griffin (Lab), Gallacher (Con), Mackay (Green). So three Labour, three Tory, and one Green.

Asked whether it was realistic to have a referendum in the first half of parliament, Nicola Sturgeon said that while getting through the pandemic has to come first, it looks as though it is “beyond any doubt that there will be a pro-independence majority in Scottish parliament”.

She told BBC News: “By any normal standard of democracy that majority should have the commitments it made to the people honoured.

Continue reading...

Trident could be forced overseas or halted if Scotland gains independence

Posted on by

Continuing UK’s nuclear deterrent would probably require help of an allied country, defence expert says

Trident could be forced to the US or possibly France if Scotland became independent because there is no alternative port immediately available elsewhere in the UK, according to a retired admiral responsible for Britain’s nuclear policy.

Unless Scotland were to agree to lease back the Faslane submarine base to the rest of the UK, continuing Trident would probably require the help of an allied country or the nuclear deterrent would have to be halted completely, the expert said.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon blasts decision to refer Holyrood bills to UK supreme court

Posted on by

Scottish first minister calls UK government decision ‘morally repugnant’ as bills were passed unanimously

Nicola Sturgeon has condemned the UK government’s decision to refer two bills passed by Holyrood unanimously to the supreme court as “morally repugnant” amid an outcry from MSPs.

The Scottish parliament passed the United Nations convention on the rights of the child bill and the European charter of local self-government bill in the weeks before it went into recess.

Continue reading...

PM will allow second referendum if SNP wins, says Sturgeon

Posted on by

Scottish first minister tells Guardian fresh poll impossible to resist should her party land majority next month

Boris Johnson will not oppose a second independence referendum if the Scottish National party wins a majority in the election next month, Nicola Sturgeon has said, with some UK government ministers reportedly conceding it is an inevitability.

In an interview with the Guardian, Scotland’s first minister said: “If people in Scotland vote for a party saying, ‘when the time is right, there should be an independence referendum’, you cannot stand in the way of that – and I don’t think that is what will happen.”

Continue reading...

Sturgeon welcomes ‘official, definitive, independent’ ruling she did not breach ministerial code – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. For more on this story, you read the news report here

The army’s increased deployability and technological advantage will mean that greater effect can be delivered by fewer people. I’ve therefore taken the decision to reduce the size of the army from today’s current strength of 76,500 trade trained personnel to 72,500 by 2025.

The army has not been at its established strength of 82,000 since the middle of last decade.

Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany extends partial lockdown; Irish PM speaks out against vaccine export ban

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, has said that Nicola Sturgeon is not “free and clear”, despite being exonerated by the independent adviser on the ministerial code, because the Scottish parliament’s committee has not yet published its report on her. In a statement he said:

The first minister has been given a pass because it has been judged her ‘failure of recollection’ was ‘not deliberate’.

I respect Mr Hamilton and his judgment but we cannot agree with that assessment. Nicola Sturgeon did not suddenly turn forgetful.

Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon says harassment policy was not there ‘to get Alex Salmond’ – live updates

Posted on by

Scotland’s first minister is appearing before MSPs, amid multiple allegations that she broke the ministerial code

Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservatives, asks about the extent of ministerial overview of the judicial review brought by Salmond over the investigation into harassment allegations against him?

The first minister replies that she was a named party. It was not something that she discussed every day. She says it was “not an unusual degree of involvement or oversight”, pointing out that there have been several judicial reviews against her government.

Mitchell says no one would want to come forward because of the way these complainers were treated.

Sturgeon says they are the most important people in this story. They were let down by government mistakes.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon faces calls to resign over actions in Salmond crisis

Posted on by

First minister was given legal advice about significant potential conflict of interest but case continued

Nicola Sturgeon faces calls to resign after previously secret legal advice and new witness evidence raised fresh questions over whether Scotland’s first minister misled parliament about the Alex Salmond crisis.

On Tuesday evening the Scottish government released confidential legal advice that showed its lawyers had warned Sturgeon and her most senior officials that evidence of a potentially unlawful conflict of interest inside the government was “extremely concerning” and a “very real problem indeed”.

Continue reading...

Alex Salmond: weak leadership could hurt case for Scottish independence

Posted on by

Former first minister launches a stinging attack on the SNP during evidence to a Holyrood inquiry

Alex Salmond has suggested that weak and incompetent leadership of Scotland’s institutions could undermine the case for independence, in a bitter attack on his former allies and party.

The former first minister said huge deficiencies had been exposed in the running of the Scottish government and the Crown Office, as he blamed both institutions for forcing him to live through a “nightmare” during the last three years.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon: SNP will hold Scottish independence vote if it wins in May

Posted on by

First minister says she will hold advisory referendum, whether Westminster consents or not

Nicola Sturgeon says she will hold an advisory referendum on independence if the Scottish National party wins a majority in May’s Holyrood elections, regardless of whether Westminster consents to the move.

Her party is setting out an 11-point roadmap for taking forward another vote, which will be presented to members of the SNP’s national assembly on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon faces growing SNP rebellion over leadership style

Posted on by

Revolt criticising policies on independence, economy and transgender rights could also see Alex Salmond return to party

Nicola Sturgeon faces a growing rebellion over her leadership style that is expected to involve Alex Salmond being readmitted to the Scottish National party next year.

More than 20 activists, councillors and MPs critical of Sturgeon’s leadership and her policies on independence, the economy and transgender rights were elected last week to the party’s national executive as office bearers and ruling committees, to the shock of party leaders.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson faces revolt over forcing through Covid measures

Posted on by

Amendment calling for votes on new restrictions is winning cross-party support

Boris Johnson is facing a massive parliamentary revolt over the way he is imposing Covid-19 restrictions on the British people without first consulting MPs – amid new signs that confidence in his leadership is collapsing in the Conservative party and across the country.

An extraordinary cross-party backlash against Johnson’s “rule by diktat” from Downing Street was taking shape on Saturday – ahead of a key vote on Wednesday – as a new poll by Opinium for the Observer showed Labour has overtaken the Tories for the first time since Keir Starmer became leader in April.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon promises urgent review of 124,000 downgraded exam results

Posted on by

First minister apologises after predicted awards downgraded more heavily in poorer areas

Nicola Sturgeon has apologised to tens of thousands of Scottish teenagers whose exam results were downgraded last week and promised urgent changes to their awards.

The first minister attempted to defuse a growing crisis for her government by confirming that her deputy, John Swinney, would lay out proposals to regrade results in the Scottish parliament on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Blasphemy to be decriminalised in Scottish hate crime bill

Posted on by

New law will also offer wider protection against race, sex, age and religious discrimination

The Scottish government has published a bill that would decriminalise blasphemy, more than 175 years after the last case was prosecuted.

The devolved administration in Edinburgh said the continued criminalisation of blasphemy, which falls under hate crime laws, “no longer reflects the kind of society in which we live”.

Continue reading...

UK political parties unite to demand recall of parliament

Posted on by

As virus death toll nears 10,000, Labour leader Keir Starmer calls for talks with Speaker
• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

The government faces a chorus of cross-party calls on Sunday for the urgent recall of parliament in “virtual” form as MPs and peers demand the right to hold ministers to account over the escalating coronavirus crisis.

The demands from leaders of all main opposition parties, as well as senior Tories, came after the death toll from Covid-19 in the UK approached 10,000. Deaths from the virus rose by 917 on Saturday compared with Friday to a total of 9,875.

Continue reading...

Alex Salmond allies say he plans to sue Scottish government

Posted on by

Ex-first minister believed to be furious over treatment by SNP and Nicola Sturgeon’s office

Alex Salmond is expected to sue the Scottish government over the alleged role of its senior officials in his prosecution for sexual assaults, his allies have disclosed.

Sources close to the former first minister said he believed senior figures inside the government and Nicola Sturgeon’s office helped orchestrate significant parts of the case against him, and that he intends to sue for extensive damages.

Continue reading...

Salmond’s acquittal could make him the SNP’s biggest challenge

Posted on by

Nicola Sturgeon’s party is now in the sights of its vindicated and emboldened ex-leader

When Nicola Sturgeon addressed a private gathering of Scottish National party politicians at Edinburgh Napier University towards the end of August 2018 and little more than a week after the original sexual harassment allegations against her predecessor Alex Salmond were made public, she spoke frankly: “How we deal with this and how we are seen to respond to this will say a lot about who we are as a party and also about the country we are today and want to build for the future.”

Speaking outside the high court in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon following his acquittal on 13 charges of sexual assault, Alex Salmond suggested that the verdicts would ultimately say something very different about the SNP. He referred to “certain evidence I would like to have seen led in this trial”, which would now “see the light of day”. Sources close to the former first minister were already briefing his belief that Nicola Sturgeon herself played a role.

Continue reading...

Alex Salmond acquitted of all charges in sexual assault trial

Posted on by

Former first minister’s allies claim he was victim of SNP witch-hunt after he is cleared

Alex Salmond has been acquitted of all charges of sexual assault, a decision that prompted his allies to suggest he had been the victim of a witch-hunt within the Scottish National party.

A jury of eight women and five men at the high court in Edinburgh on Monday found Salmond not guilty of 12 charges of attempted rape, sexual assault and indecent assault after about six hours of deliberations.

Continue reading...

Tusk: EU would be enthusiastic if Scotland applied to rejoin

Posted on by

Former European council president’s remarks will boost SNP’s campaign for second independence referendum

Donald Tusk, the former president of the European council, has said there would be widespread enthusiasm in the EU if Scotland applied to rejoin after independence.

In remarks that will boost Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for a second referendum, Tusk told the BBC he had great sympathy with the desire of many Scots to rejoin the EU after Brexit.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson urged to publish report on Russian meddling

Posted on by

Exclusive: Report on Russian interference depends on prime minister appointing committee

The SNP’s leader at Westminster has written to Boris Johnson demanding that he take immediate steps to allow the suppressed report into Russia’s interference in the British political system to be published.

Ian Blackford, the leader of the third-largest party in the Commons, called on the prime minister to begin appointing members of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, necessary to allow the controversial document to be released.

Continue reading...