Burnham-On-Sea’s MP James Heappey says the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has “massively misjudged the mood of the Scottish people” in calling for a fresh independence referendum.
Mr Heappey said this week: “When I was knocking doors in 2014, I was struck by how often people would say that if we English were such an impediment to Scotland, good riddance to them.”
“It was a perfectly understandable reaction; the SNP’s brand of politics is to create grievance for the Scots and to annoy the English. They know the former distracts from the weakness of their record in Holyrood and the latter might lead the English commentariat to say things that put a wedge between our two countries.”
“However, Nicola Sturgeon has massively misjudged the mood of the Scottish people. The SNP promised that the vote in 2014 was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I doubt many in Scotland will truly welcome the uncertainty that another referendum brings.”
“They’ve got their timing wrong in claiming that this is about Scotland’s place in the EU too. Firstly because they propose a poll before the outcome of the UK’s Brexit negotiations will be confirmed and secondly because if Scotland separated from the UK they’d leave the EU anyway and then have to apply to join in their own right. That could take years.”
“For all of that we must not be complacent. The SNP will spend two years saying what an inconvenience we English are to Scotland’s glorious future but we must not rise to the bait.”
He added: “Nicola Sturgeon, Alex Salmon and the ‘Cyber Nats’ on Twitter represent only a vocal minority of Scots. The best way to counter their negativity is to celebrate the United Kingdom, all that it stands for and all that we can become if we stick together.”
