Theresa May last night told Brexit-mad Tories not to take the Union “for granted” as she warned .
The Prime Minister made an unprecedented admission that time is running out to avoid the break-up of Britain.
And warned her potential successors as PM not to trust Nicola
Sturgeon because she does not act in “good faith”.
The personal attack on the First Minister came as May made her final speech in
Scotland as Prime Minister. In a stark admission that support for independence has grown during her premiership, May pointed to the recent warning from Gordon Brown that the Union was facing its biggest threat in 300 years.
She said: “If we do not do all we can to realise the full benefits of the Union, no one else will.
“If we do not use every policy lever within our reach to strengthen that Union, no one else will.
“And if we do not make realising the full benefits of being a United Kingdom of four proud nations and one united people our priority now, then in the future it may be too late.”
The speech came a day after May announced a review of Scottish devolution in a bid to ensure the current constitutional set-up is “working as best as it can”.
She said: “We need to work more cleverly, more creatively and more coherently as a UK government fully committed to a modern, 21st century union in the context of a stable and permanent devolution settlement to strengthen the glue that holds our Union together.”
But May accepted that the Brexit process has put strain on the Union. She told an audience in Stirling: “I think a lot of people have taken the Union for granted over the years.”
Sturgeon said Scotland was “heading inexorably towards independence” – adding that would be May’s “legacy”.
The First Minister added: “The Tories’ behaviour towards Scotland since the Brexit vote has been high-handed, arrogant and dismissive.
“They have destroyed their own claims that the Union is in any meaningful way a
partnership of equals. People across Scotland can now see that more plainly than ever.”
