SNP should stop ‘obsessing’ over independence and JK Rowling, Rishi Sunak says

The SNP should stop “obsessing” over independence and trying to lock up JK Rowling and instead turn its focus on to what matters to people in Scotland, the Prime Minister told the Commons.

Rishi Sunak criticised the SNP for “wasting time cracking down on free speech” during Prime Minister’s Questions.

In the exchange, Stephen Flynn highlighted comments made by former prime minister Gordon Brown and Scottish Trades Union Congress general secretary Roz Foyer on independence remaining an unresolved issue.

The SNP Westminster leader said: “This week, a former prime minister who oversaw a financial crash before being unceremoniously turfed from office told the public the truth – and I’m not referring to that one.

“On Monday, Gordon Brown told the people of these isles that the forces pulling Britain apart are greater than the forces holding it together.

“Of course where Gordon Brown was also correct in stating that Scottish independence is not simply off the agenda, and indeed those remarks were echoed just yesterday by the general secretary of the Scottish Trade Union Congress, who stated that it remains an unresolved issue.

“Before going on to state – and they may laugh at her – but she said, ‘that can be a very dangerous place to end up in, when you are not allowing people to express their wishes in a democratic manner’.

“So may I ask the Prime Minister, does he welcome the fulsome, wholehearted, and warm support of the Labour Party in denying the people of Scotland that opportunity to have a say over their own future?”

Mr Sunak replied: “We did have a democratic vote on that topic.

“But what I would suggest to the SNP is that rather than obsessing about independence and indeed wasting time cracking down on free speech and trying to lock up JK Rowling, he should focus on what the people in Scotland actually care about – schools, hospitals, jobs, and our new tax cuts.”