Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has doubled down on Liz Truss’s personal attack on the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, claiming she’s “always moaning” and “quite often wrong”.
It comes after the foreign secretary – the frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest – said it is best to “ignore” the SNP leader as she dismissed demands for a second Scottish independence referendum.
Tory members in the audience at the hustings event in Exeter cheered and applauded the comment, with Ms Truss adding: “She’s an attention-seeker, that’s what she is”.
The remarks were seized on by SNP politicians, who accused Ms Truss of showing “contempt” for voters north of the border while simultaneously making the case for an independent Scotland.
Rather than trying to defuse the row, however, Mr Rees-Mogg doubled down on the comments on Tuesday, accusing Ms Sturgeon on Sky News of “waffling on endlessly” about the issue of a second referendum.
He said: “When she’s waffling on endlessly about having a referendum and going to the Supreme Court and all of this, we need to be saying, hold on you’re doing this because you’re failing to deliver for the people of Scotland, and the United Kingdom government will have to deliver for the people of Scotland as well.”
“I think she’s very often wrong, she’s always moaning and we need to focus on how the union benefits people,” he added.
“The SNP gets very cross – well of course the SNP gets cross, its permanent default state. It’s a state of mild fury, a lot of it confected.
“What we need to do is make the arguments about why the United Kingdom is successful for the people of Scotland and how the United Kingdom as a whole has helped the people of Scotland.”
John Swinney, the deputy first minister, described Ms Truss’s comments as “deeply troubling and concerning” on Tuesday morning.
He added: “Nicola Sturgeon has far more democratic legitimacy than Liz Truss is going to have if she becomes the prime minister, and I think Liz Truss has absolutely no right or foundation to make these remarks.”
Joanna Cherry, an SNP MP, added: “I think the Scottish independence movement should be grateful to Liz Truss. It looks like she’s going to be PM.
“On every future occasion Tories or unionists talk about a union of equals or respect for Scotland we have her foolish outburst to play on a loop”.
Ms Truss also appeared to adopt a more hardline stance on the issue of a Scottish referendum at the weekend, insisting it would not happen “on my watch” if she wins the contest to replace Boris Johnson in No 10.
In a letter to Ms Sturgeon last month, the outgoing prime minister only said now is not the time to return to the issue “as our country faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad”.
His remarks came in response to the Scottish first minister unveiling proposals to hold a Scottish referendum on 19 October 2023.
As well as asking for the power to hold such a vote to be transferred to Holyrood, Supreme Court judges have also been asked if the Scottish government can hold a consultative ballot on the issue.
If those avenues fail, Ms Sturgeon has claimed the next general election will become a “de facto referendum”.
