A trade union leader has claimed it is “staggering” the Scottish Government is pushing for an independence referendum during an energy bills emergency.
Gary Smith, general secretary of the powerful GMB union, said there had to be a debate on the constitution but not when there is an economic crisis.
A spokesperson for the First Minister responded: “People across Scotland have already voted for a referendum and are desperate to get rid of this rotten Tory government. Securing independence means we get rid of all Westminster governments we never voted for – for good.
“Independence is vital to securing the powers we need to properly tackle issues like the cost of living emergency, instead of waiting for a shambolic, out of touch Tory government to get its act together.”
Nicola Sturgeon is calling on political opponents to support a referendum in October next year.
But critics believe the Government is wrong to use their resources to talk about the constitution when energy bills are soaring by 80 per cent and inflation is running at over 10 per cent.
Smith, whose members have been striking over a council workers’ pay dispute, hit out at the October timetable:
“As we head into a winter where people are going to face P45s as their employers go to the wall, where folk are really going to struggle to feed their families, where people are going to lose their lives if we have a cold winter, I just find it staggering in terms of their priorities.
“For too long the Scottish Government has been involved in diversion politics. The politics of grievance is the norm.”
He added: “Ultimately our members in Scotland will make the decision on how they would vote in any referendum. I visit a lot of workplaces and talk to a lot of people, and there are two things happening. People are frightened or people are angry. Nobody is talking to me about rerunning a referendum next year.”
He said: “There has to be a debate about the constitutional future of Scotland, but I am always very cynical about politicians wrapping themselves in a flag and trying to divert attention away from an economic crisis that they have responsibility for dealing with.”
Sturgeon’s preferred approach to indyref2 is for a joint agreement with Westminster - a suggestion knocked back by the UK Government.
The Lord Advocate, who advises the Sturgeon administration, has referred a draft Holyrood bill to the Supreme Court for a ruling on its legality.
If judges decide the Scottish Parliament cannot organise a vote unilaterally, the First Minister has said she will make the next general election a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence.
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “These scathing comments lay bare how out of touch the SNP have become.
“People are terrified about how they are going to pay their bills and put food on the table, but the SNP only have the same old answer.
“They have always used their constitutional obsession to try and distract from their failures in government, but the stakes are too high for it to work this time.
“This is nothing short of a national emergency, but Scotland is being failed by two divisive and distracted governments. The SNP need to start putting Scotland’s priorities ahead of their own, and focus on using the powers they have to help people through this cost of living crisis.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton: “Gary Smith’s comments are spot-on. The SNP are happy to splash out millions on building walls and pointing the finger, yet they say they can’t do anything to help people keep themselves warm and feed their families.
"It's nothing short of shameful.
“Unlike the SNP, the number one priority of the Scottish Liberal Democrats is to support people with soaring energy bills. That means scrapping October’s energy price cap rise and introducing an emergency nationwide insulation programme to increase energy efficiency.”
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