Nicola Sturgeon faces fury for using COP26 in Scots independence battle

Nicola Sturgeon today faced fury for exploiting COP26 in her Scottish independence battle after taking out full-page ads boasting about a ‘nation-in-waiting’.

The SNP leader’s adverts in newspapers as world leaders descend on Glasgow have been condemned as ‘disappointing but predictable’.  

The publicity images quote Ms Sturgeon saying: ‘A nation in waiting welcomes the nations of the world.’

They come amid claims Glasgow’s reputation has been tarnished with a bin strike ongoing and claims rats are running riot.    

Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon has been enjoying her status as joint host of the summit to have a series of high-profile meetings.

She chatted with Greta Thunberg – heaping praise on the teenage activist for making politicians ‘uncomfortable’. 

Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘Even when world leaders are in Glasgow to focus on the future of the planet, the first instinct of the SNP is to push their divisive independence obsession.

‘No matter how big the issue, the SNP just can’t help themselves – they always focus on trying to break up the United Kingdom.

‘Nations from around the world are coming together at Cop26 in a bid to tackle the climate emergency and yet the SNP – whose failure to meet climate-change targets is dismal – would rather talk about separation.’

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton was also critical of the SNP, accusing the party of being ‘obsessed with independence’ at a time when ‘the world is coming together with the mission of solving the biggest problem humanity has ever faced’.

He added: ‘The eyes of billions are on Scotland, the future of our planet hangs in the balance, and Nicola Sturgeon can’t help herself. This advert is a distraction and divisive. It should be withdrawn.’

An SNP spokesman said: ‘The SNP is proud to be delivering global leadership on tackling the climate emergency.

‘We’ll leave others to snipe from the sidelines, we’re 100 per cent focused on creating a greener and fairer Scotland and more sustainable planet.’

Speaking at an event hosted by the environmental organisation WWF, she told how she had just met Ms Thunberg and another young climate activist, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda.

Ms Sturgeon said: ‘Those voices often, including for me, are really uncomfortable at times, because they make us confront the hard realities of our own lack of delivery.

‘But my goodness they are so important to shake the gatherings that will take place here over the next few days out of the sense of complacency that surrounds them all too often.’

She continued: ‘If we only face up to the easy, relatively easy things we won’t get anywhere. This has to be a moment that leaders, all of us, whether we are round that negotiating table or not, are held to account for the reality of what we promise not for the rhetoric of it.’