NICOLA Sturgeon has said the biggest threat to Scotland in the next few years will be the country failing to seize the opportunity to become independent.
The First Minister said if Scotland allows Westminster to stay in charge it means the country will not fulfil its “massive potential”.
In a wide-ranging interview on the Cultural Coven podcast, she also spoke of how politicians feel “less safe” in a “much more polarised and toxic” culture today which is being fuelled by social media.
She cited a recent example of her home address being posted on the internet with people encouraged to protest outside as the kind of incident which “all politicians do really worry about now”.
Sturgeon told podcast host Nicola Roy that Scotland faced threats in the coming years from global issues such as climate change, the war in Ukraine, covid and future pandemics.
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But she added: “For Scotland specifically I think the biggest threat is we don’t take the opportunity to put ourselves in charge of our own destiny and fully equip ourselves to make the most of all these massive advantages we have got.
“If we allow ourselves to stay governed by, constrained by, have our ambitions and our aspirations limited by Westminster, we will not fulfil the massive potential we have got. We will go some of the way to do that, but we will stop short.
“So I think the biggest threat to Scotland over the next few years is not becoming independent - and conversely the biggest opportunity for us is becoming independent.”
The SNP leader also spoke about a confrontation during last year’s Holyrood election with former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen, who was standing as independent candidate.
Sturgeon told her she was a “fascist” and “racist” after Fransen approached her outside a polling station and accused her of being “an absolute disgrace”.
She said her “heart was thumping” during the “deeply unpleasant” incident.
But she added: “When somebody like me is confronted by a nasty, fascist, racist like she is then it is really important not to run away, to stand your ground and tell her to her face what she is and what you think of her.”
However, she also said there is “no doubt” politicians are less safe now than when she started in politics 30 years ago.
She said: “I think the political climate and culture is much more polarised and toxic and social media has got a big part to play there because it allows people, who have always existed but were on the margins and never had a platform before, to have that platform to hurl abuse directly at people.
“And sometimes that then spills over into the real world and people confront politicians and attack and, sadly as we’ve seen twice in recent years in the UK, murder politicians, so it’s definitely, definitely much more of a worry and a thought than it was in previous years.”
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She gave the example of her home address being posted on the internet just before Christmas, with people encouraged to go and protest outside.
“[It was] not here at Bute House, where that would have been legitimate as it is a public place, but my personal address in Glasgow,” she said.
“These are the kind of things you would never have had to worry about in the past that I think all politicians do really worry about now.
“I fear we are going to find it much more difficult to attract people into politics, women in particular, who get the abuse of social media much, much more than men do. It is a concern.”
The hour-long interview, which is available on all major podcast platforms, covered topics ranging from the challenges of dealing with covid as a leader to the lack of statues to women.
When asked what would be the national anthem for an independent Scotland, the First Minister struggled to pick one, suggesting Highland Cathedral, Caledonia and Flower of Scotland.
“We could become the first country in the world that just has a different anthem for whatever mood we happen to be in,” she joked.
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