Scotland’s richest brothers have said that “enough is enough” with Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP’s obsession with independence, claiming that she is wasting Scottish taxpayers’ money. James and Sandy Easdale, who entered the Sunday Times rich list this year, have warned that the push for another referendum is diverting much-needed resources from public services.
The intervention has come after the first poll since the Supreme Court ruled Holyrood cannot hold its own referendum has seen a drop in support for independence north of the Border.
The ComRes Savanta poll revealed that 44 percent, down one point, wanted Scotland to go it alone while 46 percent want Scotland to stay in the UK.
Scottish nationalists had believed that the Supreme Court decision would lead to a surge in support for separation but it did not materialise.
If that poll was reflected in an actual referendum No would win by 51 percent to 49 percent.
Billionaire entrepreneurs Sandy and James Easdale, who made their fortune with bus and transport company as well as a property portfolio, told Express.co.uk that “enough is enough.”
They pointed to the latest bill of £250,000 blown on the court challenge as well as the SNP/ Green coalition for some time setting aside £20 million of taxpayers’ money as an independent fund.
This week, SNP Finance Secretary Kate Forbes agreed to divert that cash into tackling fuel insecurity as Labour and the Conservatives pushed for the fund to be used on other priorities instead of a referendum in 2023/24.
James Easdale, who along with his brother Sandy used to be a director at Rangers football club, said: “Really enough is enough.
“They [the SNP] cannot keep wasting taxpayers’ money on a project most Scots don’t want which is destroying the country.”
He pointed out that the SNP Scottish Government was already embroiled in the ferry scandal where the contract for two boats is five years late and £240 million over budget.
Last month Audit Scotland announced that it was unable to account for £128.25 million in public money spent by Ferguson Marine on the ferries. Furthermore, it was unable to trace how a £30 million Scottish Government loan to Ferguson was spent.
Worse than that Scottish schools standards have dropped to third in the UK while NHS targets are also being missed.
The Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh opened two years late in 2021 because of problems with its ventolation system.
READ MORE: Sturgeon humiliated as Scots still reject independence in blow to SNP
Sandy Easdale added: “They [the SNP/ Greens] can’t even open a hospital or build a ferry. They obsess about independence at the cost of everything else and really Nicola Sturgeon needs to get on with the day job and run Scotland properly.
“We pay millions each in taxes to them and people have a right to expect that tax is spent properly and not on a vanity project which people do not want and the Scottish Government has no power to enact.”
Scots decisively rejected independence just eight years ago in 2014 by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent.
At the time Ms Sturgeon and then First Minister Alex Salmond agreed it was a “once-in-a-generation event”.
Ms Sturgeon still wants to hold another referendum in October next year and following the Supreme Court decision demanded that the Scotland Act was amended to allow her to do it.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made it clear he will not agree to a referendum.
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