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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Sophie Parsons

'We'll lose more than £20m by staying in the Union': Praise for actor's independence argument

Nicola Roy defended the Scottish Government's indyref allocation

AN actor has been praised for her comments surrounding Scottish independence during BBC Debate Night on Wednesday evening. 

Nicola Roy, who is best known for her work on Scot Squad, defended the Scottish Government's decision to designate £20 million to holding a second independence referendum in 2023. 

Appearing alongside panellists including Tory MSP Graham Simpson, Roy said she thought that Scotland would lose out on "a lot more" than £20 million by staying in the union. 

Her comments came after Simpson had described the sum as "a complete waste of money right now," claiming he would like to see more cash channeled into public services.

Responding to Simpson, Roy said: "I'd like to go back on the point about the £20m for the independence referendum. Obviously, cuts are never good, I do not support cuts, especially not to public services but I do understand sometimes difficult decisions have to be made. 

"In terms of the £20m , I suppose its about context, they do have a mandate to deliver this referendum, but we're - and this is not in anyway an attack on the Queen - we're spending £28m on the Jubilee and we've spent £17m of taxpayers money subsidising meals for MPS who are on high wages.  

"I genuinely fear that if we don't have this referendum, we will lose a lot more than £20m when we stay in this Union."

Roy has been praised on social media for her stance, with one account sharing the clip accompanied by the caption: "Spot on, Nicola". 

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