What will Rishi Sunak do for Scotland as cross-border tensions loom over Indyref2 and austerity?
dailyrecord.co.ukThe call between Nicola Sturgeon and Rishi Sunak has signalled a more constructive relationship than the one between the First Minister and her predecessors.
Boris Johnson and Sturgeon had little time for each other, while Liz Truss was roundly criticised for failing to pick up the phone to the FM at all in her 49-day premiership.
But the warm words that came out of the brief discussion will not paper over their fundamental disagreements. Sunak also faces massive challenges in arresting the decline of the Scottish Tories.The Record looks at the flashpoints that will dominate the new Prime Minister’s relationship with Scotland.The dispute between the Scottish and UK governments on a second independence referendum will almost certainly not be resolved on Sunak’s watch.Sturgeon wants IndyRef2 to take place next October but her UK counterparts are refusing to grant her the power to hold it.
Sunak said yesterday that the SNP should “respect” the result of the 2014 referendum.During his leadership bid in the summer, Sunak said he could not “imagine the circumstances” in which he would agree to one.He added: “I am clear that another referendum is the wrong priority at the worst possible moment.”His description of a referendum as “barmy” is another sign he will be at loggerheads with the Scottish Government.All the indications are that Sunak will have to cut spending to calm the markets – a move that could amount to another round of austerity.The SNP Government was a ferocious critic of the Cameron government’s austerity agenda between 2010 and 2016, and will pounce on any repeat.Policies like the bedroom tax and the so-called rape clause dogged the Tories and Sunak will be aware of the pitfalls of similar plans.Freezing or
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