Ruth Davidson mocks ‘Pinocchio’ Nicola Sturgeon for saying she’s not a nationalist
The SNP leader said recently that she wanted her party to have a different name because she doesn't like nationalism
NICOLA STURGEON was today mocked for claiming that she is not a nationalist and wants the SNP to change its name.
Scotland's First Minister said recently that she wishes her party were called "something other than the Scottish National Party".
She insisted that the Scottish independence movement was "removed" from other forms of nationalism across the world.
But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson ridiculed that claim - saying that Ms Sturgeon's rejection of nationalism "would make even Pinocchio blush".
The SNP boss told fans last week that she dislikes the idea of nationalism because it is often used to fuel right-wing politics.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Ms Sturgeon said: "The word is difficult.
"If I could turn the clock back, what, 90 years, to the establishment of my party, and chose its name all over again, I wouldn't choose the name it has got just now. I would call it something other than the Scottish National Party."
She added: "What those of us who do support Scottish independence are all about could not be further removed from some of what you would recognise as nationalism in other parts of the world."
Her comments were apparently a reference to right-wing leaders such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, who draw on nationalism for their political support.
Miss Davidson pointed out that the First Minister has previously been happy to embrace the "nationalist" tag.
She addressed delegates at one SNP conference as "fellow nationalists" - and has never before expressed doubts about the party's name.
The Tory boss described Ms Sturgeon's U-turn as "a proper, all-out piece of perfidy of the black-is-white variety that would make even Pinocchio blush".
She summarised the SNP leader's comments as: "Her nationalism is better than all the other types of nationalism.
"Hers is unique and good and people would understand it better if all these foreigners weren't polluting the term by practising the wrong type."
Miss Davidson claimed that the SNP's nationalist ideology had prevented it from tackling Scotland's problems in case it undermined the case for independence.
But SNP figures said the Tory leader was being hypocritical because she has previously used the Union Jack in photo opportunities.