THE SNP have reacted furiously after Theresa May claimed they have “no mandate” to pursue independence and mocked their latest currency plans.
They demanded a correction and accused the Prime Minister of choosing to “scurry” from the Commons chamber rather than hear their complaints.
It followed a series of noisy exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions on the constitution.
Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman, the deputy SNP leader at Westminster, raised Tuesday’s unique double vote at Holyrood and the Welsh Assembly on Brexit.
The devolved legislatures voted simultaneously against no-deal and urged the UK government to extend the withdrawal process in order to find a better deal than Mrs May’s.
READ MORE: Whitehall flatly rejects claim Nicola Sturgeon has mandate to call for indyref2
Ms Blackman said: “Isn’t it the case that the Prime Minister has no mandate from Scotland for either no-deal or her deal?”
Mrs May replied: “We entered the European Union as the United Kingdom. We will leave the European Union as the United Kingdom. And I also say to the honourable lady that the SNP has no mandate from the Scottish people to continue to pursue independence.”
As the chamber erupted and Ms Blackman and other SNP MPs shouted “Yes, we do”, Speaker John Bercow was forced to call for order.
Mrs May then mocked new SNP plans for an accelerated move to a Scottish currency after independence.
She said: “I seem to recall back in the 2014 referendum the SNP were absolutely adamant that Scotland would keep the pound. There have been a few changes since then. They’ve gone through looking at the option of the euro, then they went back to sterling, now they’re into an independent currency.
“This government is working to get a Brexit deal that protects jobs and our economy. The SNP should focus on that rather than continuing to pursue their independence fantasy.”
Nicola Sturgeon says the SNP have a "triple lock mandate" to hold a second independence referendum because of its wins at the 2016 Holyrood election, the 2017 general election, and the 2017 vote by MSPs in favour of temporary referendum powers.
However, Mrs May has refused to grant such powers.
READ MORE: Paul Hutcheon analysis: why claims of an indyref2 'mandate' are political hot air
At the end of PMQs, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford raised a point of order and said it was disappointing Mrs May had “chosen to scurry from the chamber” when she knew it was coming.
He said the PM's claim that the SNP had no mandate was “simply not the case.”
He said: “The Scottish National Party stood on a manifesto commitment [in 2016] of an independence referendum if there was a material change of circumstances. Now it might be a surprise to the Prime Minister, but we won the election.
“Perhaps, more importantly, we took a motion to the Scottish Parliament because there is emphatically a majority for independence in that parliament.
“And we won that vote in March 2017 by 69 votes to 59.”
He said the PM should come back and “correct the record” and accept there was a mandate.
Mr Bercow said there was “nothing untoward in parliamentary terms” in what Mrs May had one, and said it was “in the nature of political debate” that Mr Blackford might disagree.
Ms Sturgeon has promised an update on using her mandate for a second referendum since last autumn.
Earlier, Mr Blackford raised the case of 87-year-old Danish grandmother Tove MacDonald who is being forced to register and an EU national despite living in Scotland 59 years.
She told STV this week: “I was brought up during the German occupation so we always looked up to Britain, we thought Britain was just fantastic. I’m afraid it’s not quite the same.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon admits Indyref2 may be after 2021
Earlier, Mr Blackford raised the case of 87-year-old Danish grandmother Tove MacDonald who is being forced to register and an EU national despite living in Scotland 59 years.
She told STV this week: “I was brought up during the German occupation so we always looked up to Britain, we thought Britain was just fantastic. I’m afraid it’s not quite the same.”
He asked Mrs May if she would “end this heartless policy” and tell all EU citizens in the UK “to work, live and love that the UK is their home, without precondition?”
She replied: “We have consistently said to EU citizens who have been living here for many years and others who have come here more recently that we recognise the contribution they have made to our society and our economy, and we want them to stay... This is their home. We want them to stay, and they can stay.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel