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| Nicola Sturgeon to reach out to other parties to fight hard Brexit | Nicola Sturgeon to reach out to other parties to fight hard Brexit |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Nicola Sturgeon is to welcome 3,000 delegates to the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow with a commitment to seek common cause with Westminster opposition parties and moderate Conservatives in order to defeat hard Brexit. | Nicola Sturgeon is to welcome 3,000 delegates to the Scottish National party conference in Glasgow with a commitment to seek common cause with Westminster opposition parties and moderate Conservatives in order to defeat hard Brexit. |
| Warning that “the right wing of the Tory party ... is seeking to hijack the referendum result”, she will pledge that SNP MPs will vote against the Brexit bill when it comes before the Commons next year, and that her party will seek to persuade Labour, Liberal Democrat and moderate Conservative MPs to “join us in a coalition against a hard Brexit: not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK.” | Warning that “the right wing of the Tory party ... is seeking to hijack the referendum result”, she will pledge that SNP MPs will vote against the Brexit bill when it comes before the Commons next year, and that her party will seek to persuade Labour, Liberal Democrat and moderate Conservative MPs to “join us in a coalition against a hard Brexit: not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK.” |
| Quoting the Conservative manifesto, she will also argue that, while May may have a mandate to take England and Wales out of the EU, the prime minister “has no mandate whatsoever to remove any part of the UK from the single market”. | |
| Thursday’s conference brings its challenges for the SNP leader, whose stewardship since the Brexit vote has been broadly admired but who must now balance competing demands among her growing party membership as to whether and how the EU referendum can offer a stepping stone to independence. | Thursday’s conference brings its challenges for the SNP leader, whose stewardship since the Brexit vote has been broadly admired but who must now balance competing demands among her growing party membership as to whether and how the EU referendum can offer a stepping stone to independence. |
| There will be a further indication of members’ sentiment when the result of the deputy leadership contest is announced on Thursday morning. The position was vacated by Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie in May, following the revelation of his extra-marital affair, and former Labour council leader Tommy Sheppard has emerged as an unexpectedly popular grassroots challenger to party stalwart and Westminster leader Angus Robertson. | There will be a further indication of members’ sentiment when the result of the deputy leadership contest is announced on Thursday morning. The position was vacated by Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie in May, following the revelation of his extra-marital affair, and former Labour council leader Tommy Sheppard has emerged as an unexpectedly popular grassroots challenger to party stalwart and Westminster leader Angus Robertson. |
| Meanwhile, veterans of Scotland’s independence movement are staging an alternative fringe festival to run concurrently with the SNP’s conference in Glasgow this week. This follows complaints that the increasingly corporate character of the main conference is pricing out the SNP’s own grassroots supporters, as well as curtailing much-needed debate about the case for independence in advance of a potential second referendum. | Meanwhile, veterans of Scotland’s independence movement are staging an alternative fringe festival to run concurrently with the SNP’s conference in Glasgow this week. This follows complaints that the increasingly corporate character of the main conference is pricing out the SNP’s own grassroots supporters, as well as curtailing much-needed debate about the case for independence in advance of a potential second referendum. |
| Led by the thinktank Commonweal – which emerged out of the 2014 independence campaign and supported by Compass, the New Economics Foundation and Oxfam Scotland – IdeaSpace is based at the Glasgow Science Centre, a short walk across the river from the main conference venue, similar to Momentum’s alternative festival at Labour’s conference in Liverpool two weeks ago. | Led by the thinktank Commonweal – which emerged out of the 2014 independence campaign and supported by Compass, the New Economics Foundation and Oxfam Scotland – IdeaSpace is based at the Glasgow Science Centre, a short walk across the river from the main conference venue, similar to Momentum’s alternative festival at Labour’s conference in Liverpool two weeks ago. |
| Writer, broadcaster and land reform campaigner Lesley Riddoch was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of grassroots activists “who can’t afford an observer’s pass let alone an official stall”, with the pricing of the cheapest, single stall rising to nearly £3,000 and some charities refusing to take tables because of the high cost. | Writer, broadcaster and land reform campaigner Lesley Riddoch was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of grassroots activists “who can’t afford an observer’s pass let alone an official stall”, with the pricing of the cheapest, single stall rising to nearly £3,000 and some charities refusing to take tables because of the high cost. |
| The SNP came in for particular criticism earlier this week after it emerged that Heathrow would operate a “private, airport-style lounge” in a premium site in the main conference auditorium, just days after the SNP government announced its support for a third runway. | The SNP came in for particular criticism earlier this week after it emerged that Heathrow would operate a “private, airport-style lounge” in a premium site in the main conference auditorium, just days after the SNP government announced its support for a third runway. |
| Riddoch said: “People have got used to the fact that the SNP conference is not where those debates happen, and that it has sadly become like any other party conference with only corporates and serious charities able to exhibit. People are now using organisations like Commonweal and Women for Independence [another 2014 campaign group that has continued successfully post-referendum] to have the open discussions they can’t have in the SNP.” | Riddoch said: “People have got used to the fact that the SNP conference is not where those debates happen, and that it has sadly become like any other party conference with only corporates and serious charities able to exhibit. People are now using organisations like Commonweal and Women for Independence [another 2014 campaign group that has continued successfully post-referendum] to have the open discussions they can’t have in the SNP.” |
| While IdeaSpace organiser Robin McAlpine insists that the event has grown organically and is “not about us taking off in a huff”, he hopes that the free panel discussions, involving around 40 different organisations, will attract non-SNP members to Glasgow as well as nearby conference delegates, despite suggestions that elected SNP representatives have been warned off attending. | While IdeaSpace organiser Robin McAlpine insists that the event has grown organically and is “not about us taking off in a huff”, he hopes that the free panel discussions, involving around 40 different organisations, will attract non-SNP members to Glasgow as well as nearby conference delegates, despite suggestions that elected SNP representatives have been warned off attending. |
| He notes the lack of discussion on the official fringe of key hurdles for the independence argument, such as what currency to use, and what he describes as the “dissent and unhappiness” of the rank and file about the SNP leadership’s intransigence over plans for a second referendum. “After Sturgeon described a second independence referendum as ‘highly likely’ immediately after the Brexit vote, the problem is that there is no agreement on strategy and no forum to discuss it.” | He notes the lack of discussion on the official fringe of key hurdles for the independence argument, such as what currency to use, and what he describes as the “dissent and unhappiness” of the rank and file about the SNP leadership’s intransigence over plans for a second referendum. “After Sturgeon described a second independence referendum as ‘highly likely’ immediately after the Brexit vote, the problem is that there is no agreement on strategy and no forum to discuss it.” |
| Nevertheless, on Friday a resolution in the main SNP conference hall will directly address whether Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum “if no viable solution to safeguard our membership [of the EU] as part of the UK exists”. | Nevertheless, on Friday a resolution in the main SNP conference hall will directly address whether Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum “if no viable solution to safeguard our membership [of the EU] as part of the UK exists”. |
| Tabled by former Yes Scotland advisor and SNP Holyrood candidate Toni Giugliano, it is reflective of those very concerns noted by McApline that the SNP have been distracted by electioneering since the last referendum and have yet to conduct a sufficiently in-depth postmortem on why things went wrong for the movement in September 2014. | Tabled by former Yes Scotland advisor and SNP Holyrood candidate Toni Giugliano, it is reflective of those very concerns noted by McApline that the SNP have been distracted by electioneering since the last referendum and have yet to conduct a sufficiently in-depth postmortem on why things went wrong for the movement in September 2014. |
| “We can’t start talking to people about a second referendum before we’ve discussed, for example, currency, pensions, research funding and other issues that we did not get right,” says Giugliano. | “We can’t start talking to people about a second referendum before we’ve discussed, for example, currency, pensions, research funding and other issues that we did not get right,” says Giugliano. |
| He also argues that, following Theresa May’s comments at the Conservative party conference last week, when she appeared to have closed off the possibility of Scotland staying in Europe as part of the UK, “she is putting Scotland in a position where we have no choice but to prepare for a second referendum, which would have to take place before the UK leaves the EU, ahead of the 2019 European parliament elections.” | He also argues that, following Theresa May’s comments at the Conservative party conference last week, when she appeared to have closed off the possibility of Scotland staying in Europe as part of the UK, “she is putting Scotland in a position where we have no choice but to prepare for a second referendum, which would have to take place before the UK leaves the EU, ahead of the 2019 European parliament elections.” |
| This view is certainly not universal inside the SNP. Tommy Sheppard, recently warned that many activists – typically portrayed as champing at the bit for a second referendum – were worried about linking a new independence campaign to Brexit and wanted the case for leaving the UK to be “tested to destruction” before another poll was called. | This view is certainly not universal inside the SNP. Tommy Sheppard, recently warned that many activists – typically portrayed as champing at the bit for a second referendum – were worried about linking a new independence campaign to Brexit and wanted the case for leaving the UK to be “tested to destruction” before another poll was called. |
| Elsewhere, a number of senior MSPs – including the former health secretary Alex Neil - have been pressing the Scottish government to maximise the “Brexit dividend” for Holyrood but stopping short of chancing a second vote while public support continues to fall short of the consistent 60% that Sturgeon herself decreed necessary for another referendum. | Elsewhere, a number of senior MSPs – including the former health secretary Alex Neil - have been pressing the Scottish government to maximise the “Brexit dividend” for Holyrood but stopping short of chancing a second vote while public support continues to fall short of the consistent 60% that Sturgeon herself decreed necessary for another referendum. |
| Indeed, Sturgeon’s introductory call for a coalition may be best reflected across the river at IdeaSpace, where the Compass chair, Neal Lawson, and former Scottish government justice minister Kenny MacAskill will hosts a discussion of how progressive parties can work together, while another event focuses on the potential of a Scottish National Investment Bank, most recently championed by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. | Indeed, Sturgeon’s introductory call for a coalition may be best reflected across the river at IdeaSpace, where the Compass chair, Neal Lawson, and former Scottish government justice minister Kenny MacAskill will hosts a discussion of how progressive parties can work together, while another event focuses on the potential of a Scottish National Investment Bank, most recently championed by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. |
| Key conference highlights | Key conference highlights |
| Thursday 10.30am Election of deputy leader of SNP announced | Thursday 10.30am Election of deputy leader of SNP announced |
| Thursday 10.45am Nicola Sturgeon makes her welcome to conference | Thursday 10.45am Nicola Sturgeon makes her welcome to conference |
| Friday afternoon Main hall debates resolution on whether Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum “if no viable solution to safeguard our membership [of the EU] as part of the UK exists”. | Friday afternoon Main hall debates resolution on whether Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum “if no viable solution to safeguard our membership [of the EU] as part of the UK exists”. |
| Saturday 3.15 Nicola Sturgeon makes her address to conference | Saturday 3.15 Nicola Sturgeon makes her address to conference |
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