Estminster is “taking a wrecking ball” at the idea of the United Kingdom as a voluntary partnership of nations, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Scotland’s first minister said a Conservative government is trying to deny the ‘democratic right’ of the people of Scotland to choose their own future.
On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon will set out to the Scottish Parliament her plans for a second referendum on Scotland’s future in the UK to be held.
She said the case for a referendum “is now as much a Scottish democracy as it is a Scottish independence movement”.
It’s time to restore grassroots democracy in Scotland to ensure people get the governments they vote for
The prime minister has said she plans to hold the vote in October 2023, but there are significant barriers in the way as the Westminster government is unlikely to approve the plans.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Westminster is wrecking the idea of the UK as a voluntary partnership of nations.
“A Tory government of just six MPs from Scotland, supported on this issue by Labor, is seeking to deny the Scottish people’s democratic right to choose their own future.
“In doing so, they show beyond a shadow of a doubt that rather than a voluntary partnership, they believe the UK is instead defined by Westminster control.
“The case for a referendum is therefore now as much a Scottish democracy movement as it is a Scottish independence movement.”
An Article 30 injunction, a clause in the Scotland Act that would allow a legal referendum, is required for a referendum, but the UK government has repeatedly rejected requests for a referendum.
Ms Sturgeon said even previous Tory leaders, from Margaret Thatcher to Theresa May, said they believed the UK was based on the consent of the people living in its constituent countries.
She said: “It is time for Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer to respect the wishes of the Scottish people and their democratically elected government, not nonsense, and to respect the pledge their parties signed after the 2014 referendum, where they promise that nothing will stand in their way. Scotland will become an independent country in the future if the people of Scotland so choose.
“Since 1979, Scotland has been ruled 70% of the time by a Tory government that we have not elected. Enough is enough.
“It is time to restore grassroots democracy in Scotland to ensure people get the governments they vote for and through independence to build a true partnership of equals between Scotland and our friends in the rest of the United Kingdom.”
A British government spokesman said: “Now is not the time to talk about a new referendum.
“People across Scotland rightly want and expect both their governments to work together with an unwavering focus on the issues that matter to them, their families and communities.
“That means tackling the cost of living, protecting our long-term energy security, leading the international response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing our economy so that everyone has access to the opportunities, skills and jobs of the future.”
Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: “This is a transparent attempt to stir up divisions and distract from the chaos engulfing the SNP.
“Nicola Sturgeon is in no position to lecture anyone about listening to the people of Scotland, as she ignores the cost of living hanging on people’s lives and goes ahead with a costly, unwanted and harmful referendum.
“The reality is that the Tories and the SNP are working hand in hand to tear communities apart in an effort to distract themselves from their own failures.”