The SNP is incensed by Liz Truss’ accusations that Nicola Sturgeon is an “attention seeker” and that the best course of action is to “ignore her.”
Ms. Truss made the remarks last night at the Conservative hustings in Exeter.
In the race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, the Foreign Secretary is up against former Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
What are you going to do to get Scotland on board? a member of the audience had inquired. due to the fact that I’m sick to death of hearing about Nicola Sturgeon’s attempts to split the Union.
“The bond of the United Kingdom has weakened over the past 12 years of the Conservative government,” said Sebastian Payne, chairman of the hustings and Whitehall editor of the Financial Times.
“If you look at Northern Ireland or Scotland, independence is very much a question again.” What is your strategy to turn that around?
We are better together, and I believe the best course of action with Nicola Sturgeon is to ignore her, Ms. Truss, who identified herself as “a child of the Union,” responded.
I’m sorry, but she’s just looking for attention. Showing the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales what we are doing for them and ensuring that our policies are working for them all across the United Kingdom are what we need to do.
Paisley-native Ms. Truss continued, saying, “Nicola Sturgeon can keep talking about an independence referendum, but we’ve already had one, and it was agreed it was once in a generation.
So we’ve got to call her out on that while also really delivering for Scotland.”
Therefore, we need to ensure that some of the policies I’m referring to, such as the investment zones and free ports, are implemented in Scotland as well.
Stefan Hoggan-Radu, an SNP councillor, responded to her remarks by writing on social media: “How insulting and ignorant!
Whether you like her or not, she has a larger mandate than any Tory Prime Minister and is Scotland’s democratically elected First Minister!
“You watching Scotland… utterly disgraceful contempt for our democratically elected First Minister,” SNP minister Christina McKelvie remarked.
The argument occurred as Penny Mordaunt last night backed Liz Truss in a crucial victory for the front-leadership runner’s campaign.
At the start of a hustings meeting for party members, the trade minister dramatically announced she was supporting her former adversary.
After placing third in the competition, she was not anticipated to support either finalist.
She asserted, however, that the selection of the incoming Conservative Party leader was “too vital” to be left to chance while speaking on stage in Exeter last night.
She praised Ms. Truss’ “effort, her authenticity, her determination, her vision for this country, her consistency, and her sense of duty” in stating that she had made the decision to support her.
“She knows what she stands for, and her determination to oppose oppression and fight for freedom — that’s what our country stands for,” the speaker said.
And for that reason, Ms. Mordaunt continued, “I know with her we can win.” She is the “hope” candidate in my opinion,
The Foreign Secretary will stand up for the Union and can be trusted to deliver for Scotland, nine MSPs wrote in a single article, giving Ms. Truss more backing from Holyrood than Rishi Sunak.
The former Chancellor, who had initially won the support of a number of prominent MSPs but failed to add any in the past week, has now received more public statements of support than she has.
Just hours earlier, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, another erstwhile candidate for the leadership position, had unexpectedly backed Ms. Truss. Now, Ms. Mordaunt has done the same.
In contrast to her ‘doomster’ rival Rishi Sunak, Mr. Zahawi lauded her ‘booster’ approach to the economy.
As he became the tenth member of the present Cabinet to support her, Mr. Zahawi stated in The Daily Telegraph, “Liz will defy stale economic dogma and govern our economy in a Conservative way, in contrast to eight for her challenger.”
Ms. Truss responded to inquiries about her personal life by stating that while she “shares the principles” of the Church of England, she did not often attend services.
She gave the following response when asked how she planned to pay for her tax cuts and infrastructure investments: “Thriving companies, thriving businesses, and economic growth.”
Since our nation currently has the highest tax rates in 70 years, she continued, “If we tax people and businesses too much, we will stifle that growth.”
She did, however, imply that if she were to become prime minister, she would grant her adversary a position in the government, saying, “Of course I would have Rishi Sunak as part of my squad, he’s a brilliant man and we need all of our best players on the pitch.”
At the hustings, Mr. Sunak positioned himself as the “change candidate” in an effort to revitalise his campaign. And he reiterated the fact that, in contrast to his opponent, he supported Britain’s exit from the EU.
“I backed change. He remarked, “I supported Brexit because I stood by my values both then and now.
Front-runners Murdo Fraser, Stephen Kerr, Liam Kerr, Oliver Mundell, Rachael Hamilton, as well as Finlay Carson, Sharon Dowey, Douglas Lumsden, and Graham Simpson were among the nine MSPs who contributed to the joint article supporting Ms. Truss in The Times.
Liz is a child of the Union, as she spent her formative years there, according to the statement.
She is aware from personal experience that the United Kingdom is stronger when we collaborate.
“Working together, we have accomplished so much over the past 300 years, and we can accomplish so much more in the years to come.”
Liz is so optimistic about Scotland’s future in the UK because of this.
Polls continue to indicate that Rishi is the best candidate to defeat Labour and prevent the SNP from gaining power through the back door, according to a spokesman for Mr. Sunak’s campaign.