THE First Minister has pledged that indyref2 will be at the heart of the SNP’s election pitch.
Her comments came at First Minister’s Questions yesterday, which also saw interim Tory leader Jackson Carlaw being left red-faced after he accused the SNP leader of undermining Brexit negotiations.
Carlaw said Nicola Sturgeon wanted to see negotiations between the UK and the EU “fail”.
The SNP leader pointed out that there were not any negotiations happening at the moment for her to undermine.
“If Jackson Carlaw is asking me to give an opinion on some mythical deal that he believes, unlike most other people, that Boris Johnson is on the verge of agreeing with the European Union, then tell us what he thinks the content of that deal is and then I will happily give him an opinion on it.
“But right now there are no negotiations that we know of, the so-called efforts to strike a deal have been called a ‘sham’.”
Saying an election was coming, Carlaw continued: “Scottish Conservatives will stand up for and stand by our decision to remain within the United Kingdom, to back the decision people made across the UK to leave the European Union, to ensure this country can move on.
If you want more years of division, vote for Nicola Sturgeon. If you want to get back to the things that matter – schools, jobs, police, the people’s business – vote for us.
“That is the clear choice that Scotland now faces.”
Sturgeon hit back: “I can’t help thinking that if the Conservatives had any confidence whatsoever in that message, Ruth Davidson would still be standing right now where Jackson Carlaw is.
“She can’t stomach the direction Boris Johnson is taking this country in. Boris Johnson’s own brother can’t stomach the direction he’s taking the country in. The question is, why should the people of Scotland be forced to put up with it?
“So I relish the prospect of a General Election, I really relish the prospect of a General Election.”
She added: “The SNP will beat the Tories in a General Election just as we have done in the past in a number of elections.
“And unashamedly, and unapologetically, in that election the message from the SNP will be clear – we stand up for Scotland’s opposition to Brexit and we stand up for Scotland having the right to choose our own future, not having a future imposed on us by Boris Johnson.”
Labour’s Richard Leonard pushed the First Minister on the Scottish Prison Service’s legal bid to prevent the Sunday Mail from publishing a story about a prisoner’s death.
Allan Marshall was restrained by guards at HMP Edinburgh in Saughton in 2015. He suffered a cardiac arrest during a lengthy struggle with staff. He was dragged face down and feet first by prison officers.
A sheriff later ruled his death in March 2015 was “entirely preventable”, saying there were “instances when better training of Scottish Prison Service staff could have made the difference”.
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Lawyers went to court in the middle of the night in a bid to prevent details of the case being published last month.
Leonard said the Government had been guilty of “heavy-handed interference in the freedom of the press”.
He told the First Minister: “Let’s be clear, Allan Marshall died following a shocking incident in prison service custody, the sheriff says his death was ‘entirely preventable’ and your government goes to court in the dead of night to keep this out of the public eye.”
Sturgeon, who confirmed she had watched CCTV footage of Marshall being restrained, stressed she “had no role” in the legal proceedings.
She said any lessons that could be learned from the case would be.
The First Minister also offered her condolences to the Marshall family who were sitting in the public gallery.
The First Minister said: “I take matters like this extremely seriously because I take very seriously the responsibilities of the state when individuals are in custody.
“Their human rights continue to require to be protected and respected, so therefore in situations like this, if there are lessons to be learned, it is vital they are learned.”
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