Sturgeon’s taxpayer-funded political attack

Nicola Sturgeon has never been all that bothered about the remit of her devolved government and the parameters of its responsibilities. So exactly no one was surprised when she popped up this morning with another speech on independence. It comes as part of her ramp-up to a referendum which she insists she will hold next October, despite Westminster refusing permission. Today’s speech unveiled the second in a series of papers making the case for independence.

What might have surprised casual observers of Scottish politics is just how closely the address resembled a party conference speech in its unabashedly partisan attacks on the Tories and Labour. Opining that the Tories appeared to be in a ‘political death spiral’, Sturgeon said:

The change of Tory leader seems virtually certain to be accompanied by a shift even further to the right. That means a shift even further from the mainstream of Scottish opinion and values.