Murnaghan Interview with Nicola Sturgeon. DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Now if the Scottish referendum were run again today the Yes campaign would win it comfortably, that’s according to a new poll from YouGov which shows support for independence in Scotland on the rise still, so does this mean we’ll see another vote perhaps in a few years’ time? Well let’s get the views of Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister at the moment but she’ll soon replace Alex Salmond as First Minister as leader of the Scottish National Party and there she is, a very good morning to you Ms Sturgeon. What do you put this down to then, the growth in support, the continuing growth in support for Scottish independence? Is it a sense of a backsliding on the delivery of devo max? NICOLA STURGEON: Yes, I would put it down to two related things, firstly there is a very, very strong mood for change in Scotland. If you take the 45% of people who voted yes in September and add to that the many people who voted no but did so on the promise of significant more powers for the Scottish parliament then what you have a majority, arguably a very strong majority in Scotland for substantial change and secondly, yes, I think there is significant distrust of Westminster politicians who were very quick to offer and promise, they did it in a solemn vow, more powers before the referendum but who ever since the referendum in their language and in some of their actions, have appeared to be backsliding so I think there is a very, very strong message for Westminster in the polling evidence we have seen in the last few days. DM: And there are also specific reasons, when we look at Scottish Labour, the collapse in support for them, the mess that Scottish Labour’s in. NICOLA STURGEON: Well Scottish Labour is in dire straits now, I’m not going to spend too much of my time obsessing about the travails of the Scottish Labour party, my job will be to lead the SNP, to lead the SNP my intention to a third election victory in 2016 but I think you don’t have to ask me the reasons for the difficulties of the Scottish Labour party, you only have to listen to what its own outgoing leader, Johann Lamont, said last weekend when she resigned. She said that the Scottish Labour party was nothing more than a branch office of the Westminster party, that the Westminster politicians who were running the Scottish Labour party were dinosaurs. Now I would add to that I think that Scottish Labour has lost any sense of identity or purpose, it will be a long time before people Scotland forget or forgive the sight of Scottish Labour joined at the hip in the No campaign with the Conservatives. It’s been a long time since Scottish Labour has firmly stood up for the interests of the Scottish people, my job as soon to be leader of the SNP is to make sure that we continue what we have done strongly over the past number of years as the government of Scotland and that is stand up for the interests of Scotland and argue for our parliament to have the powers that we need, powers for a purpose, so that we can get our economy stronger, create jobs, tackle inequality, stop the assault on the vulnerable that we see coming from Westminster, that’s the powerhouse parliament that I want to lead. My pledge to people in Scotland is that I will use every power and every resource that I have at my disposal at any given time to make this country a better place to live. DM: Okay, but given what you have said about Scottish Labour it would be an own goal, you’d be rubbing your hands wouldn’t you if they went for Jim Murphy as the next leader, a Westminster MP? NICOLA STURGEON: Well I think it would be an irony, let’s put it like that, if having had their outgoing leader describe the root of the problems of Scottish Labour as the fact that they are run as a branch office from Westminster, that the solution that Scottish Labour then alighted on was to draft in a Westminster MP to lead them, a Westminster MP that backed the Iraq war, supports tuition fees for students, seems to support the austerity agenda that comes from Westminster but you know, that’s a decision for Scottish Labour. The SNP has been successful over the past number of years because we have had a relentless focus on what is right for Scotland, we stand up for Scotland without fear or favour, we don’t look over our shoulder at Westminster or take our orders from anybody other than the people of Scotland. We’ve delivered policies that are about fairness and economic prosperity, we’re a social democratic party, Scotland’s only social democratic party at this time, understanding that we need a strong, growing, vibrant economy creating wealth but that we also want to see that wealth shared more fairly, more equally, more opportunity for everybody in Scotland to get on so my job is to continue to win and keep the trust of people in Scotland and convince them that we are the best government for our country. DM: So your enthusiasm for independence of course remains undimmed in spite of the referendum result, are there other routes to independence? The current First Minister Alex Salmond told me just after the referendum that potentially there were. What happens if the SNP wins a majority in the 2015 General Election? NICOLA STURGEON: Well people vote in general elections for a whole variety of reasons and I hope we see a strong SNP result in the next general election because SNP MPs will always stand up for Scotland but let me be clear on the route to independence, and I’ve just listened to Alex Salmond on the other channel it’s fair to say, saying exactly what I’m about to say now. We can only get independence if we persuade a majority of people to vote for independence in a referendum, there are no shortcuts to Scotland being independence, there is no low road, there’s only the high road of democracy and when another referendum happens, if another referendum happens, it will not be dictated by politicians but it will be down to the will of the Scottish people. DM: Well there is a thought isn’t there, you must be aware of this, I know you have been discussing this, there is a UK wide referendum on the EU if the Conservatives are returned as the government in the UK. If the UK as a whole votes to leave the European Union, Scotland wants to stay in, isn’t there a case there for holding a referendum round about then? NICOLA STURGEON: Well I think if that was an idea that was to unfold there would be significant disquiet and concern within Scotland because it would be disastrous for our economic interest to be outside of the European Union. Europe needs reform and change, it’s not perfect but our interests are best served within it and for us to be taken out against our will would be democratically indefensible. I put forward this week what I think is a democratic fair and reasonable proposition. If you wind back to the referendum campaign we had Westminster politicians queuing up to say that the UK was a family of nations, a partnership of equals, Gordon Brown even said that if we voted no we would be as close to a federal state that it was possible to get. Now what I’m suggesting that if there is an in/out EU referendum which I think now looks inevitable, then for the UK to come out of the European Union it would require not just a vote for that across the UK but a vote for that in each of the constituent nations of the UK. That to me would be the sort of federal solution that Gordon Brown appeared to be promising and it would be a protection against anyone of the equal members of the family of nations being taken out of Europe against our will. DM: Okay, Nicola Sturgeon, thank you very much indeed, very good to talk to you. The current Deputy First Minister.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:33:42 +0000
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