Nicola Sturgeon makes plea to EU to support Scotland

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Nicola Sturgeon has made an appeal to the European Union to support Scottish independence, saying that the country needs “an alternative way forward”.

Writing in German publication Die Welt, the first minister and SNP politician said that the Johnson administration is “turning its back on cooperation, consensus and solidarity”.

She warned that Scotland’s interests are not being represented at the EU summits this week despite it being “very much at stake” – with Johnson negotiating for a Brexit against the country’s wishes.

She wrote: “In the early days of the coronavirus crisis, chancellor [Angela] Merkel observed that there had been “no greater challenge posed to Germany since 1945, adding that much now depended on ‘acting together in solidarity’.

“While she was speaking for her own country, in truth her words applied equally to the rest of Europe and to the world as a whole. Solidarity remains essential as we collectively try and fight back against the pandemic, protecting lives while at the same time attempting to safeguard jobs and the economy.

She continued: “The same spirit will also be vital as European leaders gather in Brussels this week… At the end of this year, as the post-Brexit transition period comes to an end, Scotland and the rest of the UK face the prospect of leaving the EU’s single market, either with no trade deal in place or with what could only be a very poor deal compared to the single market membership we are leaving.”

And she referenced the fact that 62% of Scotland had voted to Remain in the EU back in 2016.

“The fact that the UK government seems determined to push ahead with exiting the transition period with no deal in place would be a foolish move in normal times,” she explained. “In the middle of a global pandemic it is utterly reckless.”

She added: “The Scottish government believes that the best future for our country is an independent nation within the EU. It is precisely because we have a UK government that is determined to turn its back on cooperation, consensus and solidarity that Scotland needs an alternative way forward.

“Unlike the EU, which is a partnership of equals where decisions require consent and often unanimity from members, the UK does not work like that and the wishes of Scotland can be ignored and overruled by Westminster.”