An independent Scotland would have a “unique advantage” as a bridge between the EU single market and the remainder of the UK post-Brexit, Nicola Sturgeon will tell the Scottish National party conference.
Speaking at the end of the three-day annual gathering in Aberdeen on Tuesday, the party leader will seek to address concerns about a possible “hard border” with England, should Scotland gain independence after the UK has left the EU.
Ms Sturgeon said at the weekend that she was planning to demand Westminster approve a second independence referendum before the end of the year and appeared to acknowledge that Brexit meant a hard border between England and Scotland would be inevitable.
Any post-independence obstacles to trade across the English border would be potentially highly economically damaging as Scotland exports more than three times as much to the rest of the UK as it does to the other EU members.
When Scotland voted in 2014 by 55 per cent to 45 per cent margin to remain part of the UK, the SNP dismissed the need for a hard border as it argued an independent Scotland, like the rest of the UK, would remain within the EU.
But in any future independence referendum post-Brexit, the SNP is expected to campaign on rejoining the EU, making a hard border with England a real possibility. The party believes the result of the EU referendum in 2016, when Scotland voted 62 per cent to 38 per cent to remain, constitutes a material change in circumstances that justifies a second independence vote.
Ms Sturgeon will tell delegates that after a successful independence referendum “we will be in the EU single market and also the closest neighbour to our friends in the rest of the UK.” She will say this would make Scotland “a bridge between the EU and the UK, making our country a magnet for global investment.”
A senior Downing Street official said the SNP should “spend more time on people’s real priorities” such as education and healthcare. “Nicola Sturgeon is once again showcasing the SNP’s plot to tear apart our union,” the official added.
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie accused the SNP of giving up on efforts to stop the UK leaving the EU. “They are planning on making use of a border between Scotland and England for pretended benefits,” Mr Rennie said.
SNP delegates have been buoyed by polls suggesting the party would win a landslide in an early UK general election and rising support for independence. However, some members are increasingly frustrated about Ms Sturgeon’s inability to force a second referendum on leaving the UK.
Ms Sturgeon on Sunday easily fended off a challenge to her strategy when delegates voted overwhelmingly against a highly unusual attempt to change the conference agenda to allow debate on an independence “Plan B”.
In his conference speech on Monday, John Swinney, deputy first minister, assured the party faithful that Scotland was on the “threshold” of independence — but also warned that there was “no shortcut”.
“We are winning the argument, we know it and it makes us impatient — all of us, believe you me,” Mr Swinney said. “There is no magic policy or political wheeze that can change the task ahead of us.”
