Nicola Sturgeon will attack “so-called strongman leaders” such as Boris Johnson and Donald Trump in her speech at the Scottish National party conference, as she urges her party to stand up to “crude populism” with the rejoinder: “That is not who we are.”
Closing the conference in Aberdeen on Tuesday afternoon, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister is expected to say: “Politics today is dominated – in too many countries – by so-called strongman leaders with inflated egos and an overbearing sense of entitlement.
“Here in the UK, we have a prime minister who has acted unlawfully, and shown no concern for the human consequences of his disastrous Brexit policy. Across the Atlantic, the current incumbent of the White House has casually allowed a war in the Middle East to re-erupt.
“What leaders like Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have in common is this: a belief that nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of their own self-interest. Not contrary opinions that might challenge the notion that they – and only they – speak for the people. Not facts or evidence. Not the rule of law. Not even democracy. In some cases, not even basic human rights.”
Sturgeon will tell delegates that the global political turmoil demands that fundamental decisions have to be made, and “choices that involve standing up for what is right”.
“We oppose the politics of Johnson and Trump. Crude populism tramples on the rights of minorities and tears at the very fabric of our democracy. It is not for us. That is not who we are.”
Immediately after Trump’s election victory in November 2016, Sturgeon described as “deeply abhorrent” some of the views he expressed during his campaign, saying she was “not prepared to be a politician that maintains a diplomatic silence in the face of racism, misogyny or hatred of any kind”.
In the summer, Johnson’s new Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, compared the SNP to rightwing nationalist movements around the world that seek to vilify opponents as “enemies”, which the SNP dismissed at the time as “desperate tactics”.
Sturgeon will also argue that independence would offer Scotland the chance to be “a bridge between the EU and the UK, making our country a magnet for global investment”.
“Scotland is rich enough, strong enough and big enough to take our place among the proud, independent nations of the world,” she will add. “But we must reject a post-Brexit race to the bottom and embrace instead a race to join the top tier of independent nations.”
The first minister will also pledge to scrap all non-residential social care charges if re-elected.
