SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford will today tell the party conference in Edinburgh that the people of Scotland deserve better than the future offered by Brexit Britain.
He will also confirm the party will not vote for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill when it reaches the Commons.
Lambasting both the Tories and Labour for their persistent refusal to acknowledge Scotland’s voice, Blackford will say that they face “terminal decline” as a result.
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“Scotland has been completely ignored throughout the Brexit process.
"Westminster is dragging us down the path to economic disaster. The people of Scotland deserve the choice of a better future than Brexit Britain,” he will say.
He will go on to label continued Westminster rule as “the biggest threat to Scotland’s economy and long-term prosperity. The biggest threat to jobs, incomes and living standards. The biggest threat to our NHS, our public services, and our society”.
The MP for Skye and Lochaber will then confirm that “the SNP will not vote for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill when it comes to Westminster,” adding that the party will “not ever” support what he will describe as a “damaging blindfold Brexit deal”.
Additionally, Blackford will call upon Jeremy Corbyn to “join with us in the SNP, and rule out any support for the Withdrawal Bill, which would lead Scotland and the rest of the UK into total economic chaos".
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“The coalition of the opposition needs now to come together and do what the people elected us to do – oppose this Tory Government.”
Blackford will then focus on the Theresa May’s record as Prime Minister.
“Theresa May has failed to protect our economy, our communities and all of our futures,” he will say.
“The Prime Minister is frozen in a failure of her own making.
“Humiliated and hamstrung by the extreme-right Brexiteers in her own party. Her time is up.”
He will then appeal to Labour and the Tories to “wake up to reality,” following the emphatic results of Friday’s YouGov poll.
The survey put support for independence at its highest margin since February 2015 of 49%, with the SNP predicted to take a 23 point lead at Westminster, a 24 point lead in the Scottish Parliament and a 25 point lead in the upcoming European Parliament elections.
“The Tories and Labour need to wake up to reality,” Blackford will say.
“They face terminal decline in Scotland if they continue to ignore Scotland’s wishes and interests,” his speech will read.
Blackford will then suggest that the poll “should be a reality check” for opposition parties and refer to the fact that the SNP stand to secure a swathe of Westminster seats, which would take their total to 51 MPs.
The speech to conference will also address what Blackford describes as “the context of change” created by Brexit.
This will be, he will say, “significant change where the choice before us is between Brexit and Scotland as an independent European nation”.
“It is for all of us to decide,” he will conclude.
“A Scotland locked indefinitely into Brexit Britain or a Scotland free to decide its own future.”
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