THE PRIME Minister has said she is certain of a fundamental change in politics across the UK after local elections.
Nicola Sturgeon has also said that she is confident that one of the changes will be Scotland becoming an independent country.
Speaking this morning, Ms Sturgeon said Sinn Fein’s performance in Northern Ireland has shown that there are “big questions” about the future of the UK “as a political entity”.
The nationalist party appears to be closing in on victory in Stormont, taking the most seats and selecting the country’s next Prime Minister.
And Scotland’s First Minister has said the result puts the future in doubt, with strong nationalist performances in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland this week.
Speaking to the PA news agency after her party increased its lead in Thursday’s council election, Ms Sturgeon said: “If (Sinn Fein) emerges as the biggest party today in Northern Ireland, which seems very likely, it will be an extraordinary result and something that seemed impossible not so long ago.
He added: “There is no doubt that big fundamental questions are being asked of the UK as a political entity right now.
“They are asked here in Scotland, they are asked in Northern Ireland, they are asked in Wales and I think we are going to see some fundamental changes in UK governance in the next few years and I am sure one of those changes will be independence. from Scotland”.
But whatever changes she forecasts, the Prime Minister said all British Isles nations will continue to cooperate regardless.
“Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland – we already sit at the British Irish Council table and will continue to do so, regardless of whether Scotland is independent or not,” he said.
“The British Isles are not going away and will continue to cooperate, but for Scotland, cooperating on an equal basis as an independent country will be much, much better than where it is today.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said this week’s local elections were not a “referendum about a referendum” and her party’s gains did not bolster the drive for independence.
Speaking from Dundee as she celebrated the SNP taking majority control of the city council, Ms Sturgeon said: “This election was a local council election, I didn’t go in arguing it was all about independence so I’m not going out from that and argue that somehow retrospectively it was all about independence.
“People in any election will vote for a wide variety of reasons. In this election, I think they voted mainly because they want more action on the cost of living crisis and they want the government in Westminster to step up, so that was a strong message on that.
“The SNP vote share increased, obviously the main pro-independence party, and after the SNP, the next big winners were the Greens, (another) pro-independence party. So I think that’s significant and we’re very excited about it.”
The number of elected councilors in Scotland increased for all parties except the Scottish Tories, which fell by 62.
The SNP increased its representatives by 22, with Labor increasing by 20, the Liberal Democrats by 20 and the Greens by 16.
Asked if the election was a “referendum on a referendum”, the Prime Minister said: “It wasn’t, we won a mandate for a referendum last year around this time, preparations are underway.
“Certainly to have the victory of the scale that we had yesterday, with the Greens doing relatively well too, certainly doesn’t hurt the case for independence, but that case wasn’t based on the outcome of the council election.”
Reference-www.heraldscotland.com