THE SNP have launched a summer campaigning blitz with a focus on how Scotland is being failed by the broken Westminster system.
Some 2.51 million Scottish households will be targeted in the first phase of campaigning, with flyers highlighting how Scotland is “being dragged down” in a number of ways – and pointing out that Scotland “can do better”.
One flyer, going out to the millions of homes, shows Big Ben falling apart with the caption: “Time to choose our own future.”
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It features a message from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who says: “Like many other small nations, Scotland’s got what it takes to prosper.
“As the case for choosing a different future grows stronger every day, the countdown to the independence referendum on October 19 2023 has well and truly started.
“No-one, least of all Westminster, has the right the stop the clock on democracy.”
The second flyer features a list of SNP party achievements, from the baby box to free prescriptions to “record funding” of £18 billion for health and social care services.
Sturgeon tells readers: “Everyone benefits in some way from SNP government policies.”
But she adds that there’s “much more we want to do”, and asks for readers’ support to build on the party’s record.
An SNP spokesperson said: “These latest campaign materials will be taken to doors and street corners across Scotland.
“We’re geared up and ready to campaign for the referendum that the people of Scotland voted for last year.
“The UK Government’s continued efforts to try and deny democracy is a disgrace and their position is totally unsustainable.
“And we hold no fear over the prospect of a General Election - Labour are just the Tories' little helpers in Scotland.
“The SNP will demand Scotland’s democratic rights - regardless of how the Westminster system tries stifle them."
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The campaigning boom comes after Sturgeon confirmed her intention to hold indyref2 in October 2023, depending on whether the Supreme Court agrees to the legality of Holyrood legislating on the issue without Westminster's consent.
If the court rules against the Scottish Government, the SNP chief plans to use the next General Election as a de-facto referendum.
On Tuesday it emerged that the UK Government has submitted its initial response to the Supreme Court filing, and a spokeswoman confirmed that Advocate General for Scotland Lord Stewart QC will become a formal party to the case.
It is understood the UK Government also asked the court if the referral was “premature”, given the usual process would be for the Scottish Secretary to refer legislation to the court after it had passed at Holyrood.
A provision of the Scotland Act allows for the Lord Advocate “to refer to the Supreme Court any devolution issue which is not the subject of proceedings”.
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “We have been clear that now is not the time to be discussing another independence referendum, when people across Scotland want both their Governments to be working together on the issues that matter to them and their families.”
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