LIBDEM leader Swinson has said her party would not allow another independence referendum as she hit the campaign trail in Scotland yesterday.
On a campaign visit to North East Fife, the most-marginal constituency at the last election, the LibDem leader said another referendum is “the last thing we need”, saying it would just create further “chaos”.
She said that her party was the only one explicitly opposing both Brexit and independence, and said the Tories’ post-Brexit plans to attract more doctors and nurses were “insulting” medical workers.
Following the Prime Minister’s promise to voters about refusing another referendum on Scotland’s future, Swinson said her party would try to block any attempts by the SNP to hold another vote.
“I’m absolutely clear, Liberal Democrats will not be allowing another independence referendum,” she told reporters on her visit to a Crafty Maltsters, a farm in Auchtermuchty.
“The SNP should be learning the lessons of Brexit, not repeating the mistakes.
“This is about stopping chaos. If you have an independence referendum, that’s about adding more chaos, more uncertainty, more cost and difficulties for families across Scotland and it’s the last thing we need.”
READ MORE: This is what Jo Swinson's constituents think of her ambitions for No 10
She added: “We are in a situation here in Scotland where we’ve had this constitutional obsession for eight years now.
“People actually just want the Government to get on with making their lives better. They are worried about the experience their children are having in schools, they are worried about the fact that their loved ones might struggle to get mental health treatment in anything like a reasonable timeframe, they’re worried about the future of our planet.
“These are the things governments should be getting on with, frankly, whether that’s the Government in Holyrood or whether that’s the Government in Westminster.
“So stop Brexit, stop this obsession with independence and get on with making people’s lives better.”
Swinson also defended her pro-Remain pact with the Greens and Plaid Cymru, which will see the parties stand aside for each other in 60 seats across the UK, despite several seats being held by Labour MPs who have campaigned to stay in the EU.
Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly hit out at pro-Union parties who she has insisted are denying Scots the right to choose their future.
Speaking at the SNP campaign launch yesterday she blasted the LibDems as a party of Westminster where Scottish interests were not a priority. “When it comes down to it the Liberal Democrats in Scotland are not the party of Remain,” she said.
“They are just another party of Westminster. They would rather subject Scotland to a Tory Brexit than give people in Scotland a choice over our future.”
She added: “The question must be to Boris Johnson and to Westminster – what gives you the right to block the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland? That is an undemocratic, untenable and ultimately unsustainable position. There can be no Westminster veto over Scotland’s right to choose our own future and build the kind of country we want to be.”
The FM will today join Amy Callaghan, the SNP candidate who is fighting to oust Swinson from her East Dunbartonshire seat.
She will focus on the opportunity for young people and will demand that the Government’s living wage is extended to all young workers – who are currently only entitled to a lower rate of pay. She will open the SNP hub in Kirkintilloch and meet young activists.
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