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Nicola Sturgeon launches Holyrood election campaign by taking aim at rivals and opponents

Nicola Sturgeon looks set to fight the biggest political battle of her life for the next five weeks

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has formally launched the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) election campaign by taking aim at her rivals and opponents alike.

In a pre-recorded address to SNP members and supporters, Sturgeon first took aim at the newly-formed Alba Party, albeit indirectly.

“I don’t have much time these days for the ‘who’s up/Who’s down’ approach to politics”, the SNP leader told her supporters.

"And I definitely have much less patience for those who treat politics like a game - and for indulging anyone who puts self-interest ahead of the country's best interests", Sturgeon added in a thinly-disguised reference to Alex Salmond, the leader of the Alba Party.

Salmond, who is Sturgeon’s predecessor as both First Minister and leader of the SNP, has returned to the frontline of Scottish politics on the mandate of securing a “supermajority” for independence at the Holyrood election.

Salmond is insistent that the Alba Party does not undermine the SNP, but Sturgeon has dismissed that by branding her predecessor as a “gambler”.

On a more positive note, Sturgeon has pledged to press ahead with her plans for a second independence referendum (popularly known as Indyref2) if the SNP secures a majority at the Holyrood election, scheduled for May 06.

The First Minister also hit back against the opponents of independence who have accused her of prioritizing Indyref2 ahead of Scotland’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sturgeon argued that the drive for independence does not constitute a “distraction” from pandemic recovery, and that the real gamble resides in “leaving our future in Westminster’s hands”.

"I believe Scotland's recovery should be in Scotland's hands", Sturgeon confidently proclaimed.

 


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