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Unionist parties issue joint statement ahead of White Paper |
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Monday, 13 August 2007 |
Scotland’s unionist parties have denounced the SNP government’s White Paper on Independence to be presented tomorrow as a waste of time and money.
In a joint statement issued in the name of the three party leaders – Labour’s Jack McConnell, Conservative Annabel Goldie and Lib Dem Nicol Stephen – the Nationalist plan for a ‘national conversation’ on independence is labeled a “one-way megaphone” and “nationalist crusade.”
The statement points out that although the SNP is in government, a clear majority of Scots voted for parties opposed to independence at the May election:
“The parties we represent - together representing 65 per cent of voters in Scotland – believe that Scotland as a whole, and individual Scots, have the best chance of success and progress inside the United Kingdom. We therefore regret the fact that the minority SNP administration, representing less than a third of Scottish voters, will tomorrow publish a White Paper which is designed to further their party’s central objective to take Scotland outside the United Kingdom.”
The parties say that instead of working toward independence, Scotland should be aiming to make devolution succeed inside the UK:
“Their objective is to end the United Kingdom whilst our parties want to see devolution succeed inside the United Kingdom. Our parties have differing views on how to reform, maintain, and strengthen the Union, but none of us want to see it ended. Reforming the Union is in conflict with ending the Union, so there can be no consensus around a minority obsession that will do great damage to Scotland.”
Click here to see the full text of the statement
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Last Updated ( Monday, 13 August 2007 )
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