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| Sturgeon: strong case for independence vote after EU elections | Sturgeon: strong case for independence vote after EU elections |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Nicola Sturgeon has warned Labour and the Tories that the case for a fresh independence referendum has grown stronger after the Scottish National party’s sweeping victory in the European elections. | Nicola Sturgeon has warned Labour and the Tories that the case for a fresh independence referendum has grown stronger after the Scottish National party’s sweeping victory in the European elections. |
| The first minister was jubilant after the SNP won three of Scotland’s six European seats after sweeping aside the Scottish Labour party, which suffered the humiliating loss of both its MEPs after securing less than 10% of the vote. | The first minister was jubilant after the SNP won three of Scotland’s six European seats after sweeping aside the Scottish Labour party, which suffered the humiliating loss of both its MEPs after securing less than 10% of the vote. |
| Speaking before she held talks in Dublin with the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Sturgeon said the scale of the SNP’s triumph should send a clear signal to parties at Westminster that Scotland had again emphatically rejected Brexit. | Speaking before she held talks in Dublin with the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Sturgeon said the scale of the SNP’s triumph should send a clear signal to parties at Westminster that Scotland had again emphatically rejected Brexit. |
| “Scotland said no to Brexit in 2016. This result makes clear: we meant it,” Sturgeon said, before confirming to journalists in Dublin that the Scottish government would publish draft legislation on a second independence referendum later this week. | “Scotland said no to Brexit in 2016. This result makes clear: we meant it,” Sturgeon said, before confirming to journalists in Dublin that the Scottish government would publish draft legislation on a second independence referendum later this week. |
| In all, pro-remain parties won 62% of the vote in Scotland, with the Scottish Liberal Democrats winning back a European seat after a surge in support assumed to have come largely from disaffected pro-remain Labour voters. | In all, pro-remain parties won 62% of the vote in Scotland, with the Scottish Liberal Democrats winning back a European seat after a surge in support assumed to have come largely from disaffected pro-remain Labour voters. |
| The Brexit party and the Tories took a seat each, with 14.7% and 11.7% respectively. Labour had its worst Scottish election result since 1910, shedding more than 200,000 votes compared with the 2014 European election and coming fifth behind the Tories on 9.3%. | The Brexit party and the Tories took a seat each, with 14.7% and 11.7% respectively. Labour had its worst Scottish election result since 1910, shedding more than 200,000 votes compared with the 2014 European election and coming fifth behind the Tories on 9.3%. |
| Furious Labour candidates, stunned by the collapse in their party’s vote, demanded an emergency Scottish executive meeting with Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, and urgent talks with the UK Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to discuss changing strategy. | Furious Labour candidates, stunned by the collapse in their party’s vote, demanded an emergency Scottish executive meeting with Richard Leonard, the Scottish Labour leader, and urgent talks with the UK Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to discuss changing strategy. |
| Leonard sought to placate his critics later on Monday by publicly backing a second EU referendum on any Brexit deal and backing a remain vote, so long as both leave and remain options were credible. He wrote to party members to concede that constitutional battles “have cost us electorally over the last five years and that trust in us has been eroded”. | |
| He said rebuilding that lost trust would start immediately, “firmly stating that I back the option to remain and that any Brexit deal should be ratified by a second public vote, one that has clear and credible options for remain and leave”. | |
| One senior source said Leonard was likely to face a furious backlash when MSPs met in Holyrood on Tuesday for their weekly group meeting. “Westminster candidates are kicking off [about the defeat] and I would expect tomorrow’s meeting to be really brutal,” the source said. | One senior source said Leonard was likely to face a furious backlash when MSPs met in Holyrood on Tuesday for their weekly group meeting. “Westminster candidates are kicking off [about the defeat] and I would expect tomorrow’s meeting to be really brutal,” the source said. |
| Johanna Baxter, a Scottish executive member, tweeted that Corbyn’s strategy of “constructive ambiguity” over Brexit had cost Labour two-thirds of its Scottish support and caused the loss of the UK’s longest-serving MEP, David Martin. | Johanna Baxter, a Scottish executive member, tweeted that Corbyn’s strategy of “constructive ambiguity” over Brexit had cost Labour two-thirds of its Scottish support and caused the loss of the UK’s longest-serving MEP, David Martin. |
| I have today written to @LabourRichard calling for an emergency meeting of the @scottishlabour Executive Committee to discuss and address the causes of our worst electoral result in living memory.I look forward to receiving his response. #EUelections2019 pic.twitter.com/5LYb77SMw5 | I have today written to @LabourRichard calling for an emergency meeting of the @scottishlabour Executive Committee to discuss and address the causes of our worst electoral result in living memory.I look forward to receiving his response. #EUelections2019 pic.twitter.com/5LYb77SMw5 |
| Two pro-remain Scottish Labour MPs, Ian Murray and Martin Whitfield, said blame for the defeat “lies squarely” with Leonard and Corbyn. The pair had failed to produce a distinctively Scottish stance on Brexit that chimed with the pro-remain instincts of its Scottish voters, they argued. | Two pro-remain Scottish Labour MPs, Ian Murray and Martin Whitfield, said blame for the defeat “lies squarely” with Leonard and Corbyn. The pair had failed to produce a distinctively Scottish stance on Brexit that chimed with the pro-remain instincts of its Scottish voters, they argued. |
| “This was an election campaign about the biggest issue facing our generation: Brexit. And yet we walked away from that battlefield, offering nothing but ambiguity on an issue that will determine the future of our country,” they said. | “This was an election campaign about the biggest issue facing our generation: Brexit. And yet we walked away from that battlefield, offering nothing but ambiguity on an issue that will determine the future of our country,” they said. |
| Sturgeon challenged Corbyn to work with the SNP and other pro-remain parties to stop Brexit and to prevent the next Tory prime minister pursuing a far more extreme form of Brexit. | Sturgeon challenged Corbyn to work with the SNP and other pro-remain parties to stop Brexit and to prevent the next Tory prime minister pursuing a far more extreme form of Brexit. |
| The SNP would work with other parties to thwart the Tories, she said. But she added: “If all Westminster has to offer is more chaos and confusion – potentially under the premiership of an extreme Tory Brexiteer – then more and more people will come to the conclusion that Scotland’s future is best served as an independent country.” | The SNP would work with other parties to thwart the Tories, she said. But she added: “If all Westminster has to offer is more chaos and confusion – potentially under the premiership of an extreme Tory Brexiteer – then more and more people will come to the conclusion that Scotland’s future is best served as an independent country.” |
| With angry Scottish Labour MPs urging Corbyn to now emphatically embrace the campaign for a second EU referendum, Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, took a harder line than Sturgeon on their party’s strategy in the Commons. | With angry Scottish Labour MPs urging Corbyn to now emphatically embrace the campaign for a second EU referendum, Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, took a harder line than Sturgeon on their party’s strategy in the Commons. |
| Although pro-independence parties only secured 46.2% of Thursday’s vote, Blackford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the SNP’s price for joining an anti-Brexit alliance at Westminster would be the promise of a second independence referendum. | Although pro-independence parties only secured 46.2% of Thursday’s vote, Blackford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the SNP’s price for joining an anti-Brexit alliance at Westminster would be the promise of a second independence referendum. |
| Vote SNP even if you’re against independence, Sturgeon urges Scots | Vote SNP even if you’re against independence, Sturgeon urges Scots |
| He said the SNP’s triumph made it “crystal clear” the party was entitled to use the mandate it had won in the 2016 Scottish parliament elections to stage a fresh vote on leaving the UK. “I simply say to Westminster that you have to respect the sovereignty of the people of Scotland,” he said. | He said the SNP’s triumph made it “crystal clear” the party was entitled to use the mandate it had won in the 2016 Scottish parliament elections to stage a fresh vote on leaving the UK. “I simply say to Westminster that you have to respect the sovereignty of the people of Scotland,” he said. |
| One of Labour’s worst results was in Fife, a county once dominated by Labour and still home to the former prime minister Gordon Brown. Its support plummeted by 20 points, with just 10,216 voters backing Labour, 9.7% of the votes cast. | One of Labour’s worst results was in Fife, a county once dominated by Labour and still home to the former prime minister Gordon Brown. Its support plummeted by 20 points, with just 10,216 voters backing Labour, 9.7% of the votes cast. |
| Three days before polling last week, Brown had made a last-ditch plea for Labour voters to back the party’s vision of social justice and to reject the “non-stop Punch and Judy show” between the SNP and Tories on the constitution, with one demanding independence and the other Brexit. | Three days before polling last week, Brown had made a last-ditch plea for Labour voters to back the party’s vision of social justice and to reject the “non-stop Punch and Judy show” between the SNP and Tories on the constitution, with one demanding independence and the other Brexit. |
| Leonard stuck to that line on Monday after the scale of Labour’s defeat became clear. He said the party had to redouble its efforts to challenge the competing nationalisms of the Tories and SNP “and put forward our positive alternatives to invest in our people, our communities and our public services”. | Leonard stuck to that line on Monday after the scale of Labour’s defeat became clear. He said the party had to redouble its efforts to challenge the competing nationalisms of the Tories and SNP “and put forward our positive alternatives to invest in our people, our communities and our public services”. |
| But in Inverkeithing, the ancient borough town two miles from Brown’s home in Fife, voters said they were unable to support or understand Labour’s confused message on Brexit. | But in Inverkeithing, the ancient borough town two miles from Brown’s home in Fife, voters said they were unable to support or understand Labour’s confused message on Brexit. |
| Toddy Lawson, 60, a retired speech and language therapist, voted Liberal Democrat last Thursday. Labour “seemed to be changing their minds about things. They say it’s clear but it’s anything but clear. I don’t know what Labour’s policies are any more,” she said. | Toddy Lawson, 60, a retired speech and language therapist, voted Liberal Democrat last Thursday. Labour “seemed to be changing their minds about things. They say it’s clear but it’s anything but clear. I don’t know what Labour’s policies are any more,” she said. |
| Joe McIntyre, a former council manager, stopped voting Labour during the Tony Blair era, weary of its spending cuts. He backed the SNP last week and believes independence would be in Scotland’s interests because the country could rejoin the EU. He said Labour had “lost its way. They don’t know where they’re going. What was a Labour stronghold certainly isn’t now.” | Joe McIntyre, a former council manager, stopped voting Labour during the Tony Blair era, weary of its spending cuts. He backed the SNP last week and believes independence would be in Scotland’s interests because the country could rejoin the EU. He said Labour had “lost its way. They don’t know where they’re going. What was a Labour stronghold certainly isn’t now.” |
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| European parliamentary elections 2019 | European parliamentary elections 2019 |
| European elections | European elections |
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| Scottish National party (SNP) | Scottish National party (SNP) |
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