NICOLA STURGEON would put the Scottish economy at risk by leaving the UK and rejoining the EU as, according to one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts, the country could see a Greece-style collapse.
Last week, Boris Johnson rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s call to hold another Scottish independence referendum in the wake of Brexit. In response, the First Minister accused the former Mayor of London of being a “democracy denier” and said she will set out her government's "next steps" before the end of January. A spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon said: "The rejection by the UK government of the people of Scotland's right to choose is further demonstration of the need for Scotland's future to be put in Scotland's hands.
"We are keeping our options open on how to respond to the UK government's refusal to accept our mandate, endorsed by the Scottish Parliament, and will provide an update in due course."
As a constitutional stand-off now seems more inevitable than ever, one of Britain’s foremost constitutional experts, Vernon Bogdanor, told Express.co.uk why the SNP’s attempt to use Brexit to manufacture support for independence might not be successful.
He said: "One third of SNP voters supported Brexit.
"It is always dangerous for a nationalist movement as, instead of having one issue, they have two.
"They are cross-cutting."
Moreover, Mr Bogdanor also explained how Ms Sturgeon's independence call could turn Scotland into Greece – Europe's most struggling economy.
He explained: "Scotland would have two big problems.
"First, it would mean fishing would return to Brussels.
"The Scots may not want that.
"The second problem is: what currency would Scotland use in the EU?
"Membership might require them to join the euro like new members.
"But that would mean bringing the deficit down from seven to three percent, which is a huge amount.
"If they use the pound, then they would have the same problem of Greece.
"They have fiscal independence but their monetary policies depend on another country.
"And if they have their own currency, they would have to have huge interest rates to stop money flowing out.
"There are very serious problems – much worse than Brexit."
Mr Bogdanor is not the only one who believes the SNP are in for a “rocky” time.
Former Labour MP George Galloway told Express.co.uk about the next Scottish parliamentary elections: “Just as with the British election result, you have to keep these things in proper perspective.
“The SNP has a huge number of parliamentary seats.
“But, for example, more people voted for Brexit in Scotland than voted for the SNP.
“Secondly, they have a huge haul of seats, but less than 50 percent of the Scottish population voted for them.”
He added: “It’s going to be a difficult year for the SNP. They’re not going to be as strong at the end of 2020 as they were at the end of 2019.”
