by Dave Bowman
‘Tories have lurched to the right to appeal to UKIP voters’ - SNP DEPUTY LEADER ANGUS ROBERTSON
WITH THERESA MAY’S snap general election just days away, iScot’s DAVE BOWMAN puts the questions this month to the SNP’s Deputy Leader and Westminster Parliamentary leader ANGUS ROBERTSON, who is defending the Moray seat he first won 16 years ago.
Dave asked Angus about Brexit, Independence, the significance of the recent Scottish council election results and how he rates the two candidates for Prime Minister of the UK: Mrs May and Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.
If you haven’t decided who to vote for on June 8th, this is a must read!
DAVE BOWMAN: Many thanks for taking time away from campaigning to do this interview. But is this general election really necessary given that the Tories already had a working majority at Westminster? In other words, has it been called for narrow party political reasons or is it, as Theresa May claims, in the national interest?
ANGUS ROBERTSON: Remember, Theresa May denied many times in public and said quite clearly that she would not have an early election. So her u-turn on the issue was something of a breach of trust. It is pretty cynical of her of course. She sensed Labour’s total lack of direction and leadership and decided to break all her own promises and take us into this totally unnecessary opportunistic election. People will reflect that she repeatedly told the people of Scotland that ‘now is not the time’ for the Scots to decide on our future - yet she felt able to take five or six weeks out of crucial Brexit talks in an attempt to increase her Parliamentary majority. This election is just raw political opportunism, nothing more, nothing less.
DB: There’s been a lot of media hype about a significant ‘Tory surge’ in Scotland following last month’s council elections. Have you seen any sign of it in Moray or around the country?
AR: The SNP won the local elections in Scotland emphatically, with more seats than any other party, an increased and higher share of the vote than any other party and as the largest party in more councils than any other party.