Nicola Sturgeon was told today that European Union officials have ripped apart her plans to split up the United Kingdom.
Multiple European sources told The Times that a separate Scotland would be refused entry to the European Union. One said: “No Euro, no membership”.
At First Minister’s Questions, Douglas Ross said the EU had “torn up” Nicola Sturgeon’s economic paper, which is based on an independent Scotland rejoining without having the Euro as its currency.
The Scottish Conservative leader challenged Nicola Sturgeon to say whether she or the European Union was lying to the Scottish people.
Every single country that has joined the EU since it was created has an obligation to adopt the Euro.
Douglas Ross insisted “there is no economic case for the referendum she wants to hold in just 12 months’ time”.
He criticised the lack of substance over currency, pensions, mortgages, borders and trade in the SNP’s recent economic paper.
The opposition leader demanded that Nicola Sturgeon drop her obsession with independence and focus instead on what really matters to Scottish people.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “European Union officials have torn up Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to split up Scotland. In less than a fortnight, they’ve rubbished the SNP’s economic paper.
“Nicola Sturgeon has been pretending that her plan to break up the United Kingdom would mean that Scotland rejoins the EU. But that’s not true.
“Her plan is actually to break Scotland away from by far our biggest trading partner, the United Kingdom, with nothing to show for it, in the middle of a global inflation and cost-of-living crisis.
“The SNP leader wants to bring in a hard border, risk 500,000 Scottish jobs that depend on UK trade and abandon the pound.
“She wants to do all that next year, without having any plan to pay for pensions, tackle the deficit or secure people’s mortgages.
“The priority right now must be frontline services, but the SNP has poured resources and taxpayers’ money into trying to find an economic case for independence.
“Nicola Sturgeon’s plan would wreck our economy for good. The SNP leader wants permanent austerity. She wants permanent higher taxes. She wants permanent economic chaos. She wants to leave us permanently isolated.
“Even if she won’t admit it, the truth is there is no economic case for the referendum she wants to hold in less than a year.
“Scotland rejected the SNP’s plans for separation in 2014. Now Nicola Sturgeon’s new proposals have been torn up by the EU.
“It's time the SNP dropped their obsession and focused on what really matters to people.”
Notes
The Times story is here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/join-the-euro-or-your-eu-dream-dies-sturgeon-told-37tmz3fcc
European Commission website: “All EU Member States, except Denmark, are required to adopt the euro and join the euro area.” https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/euro/enlargement-euro-area/who-can-join-and-when_en