Thatcher Rejects Scotland Home Rule
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Friday rejected the concept of home rule for Scotland.
In a direct challenge to nationalists who want a transfer of power from Parliament in London to Scotland’s capital of Edinburgh, Thatcher said this would be “yet another layer of government.”
In a speech to a Scottish newspaper audience, she said her government was as committed as ever to the union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.
“I passionately believe that the best way to safeguard Scotland’s future is as part of a strong United Kingdom, within a strong Europe, and as a bastion of the free world,” she added.
Pressure for home rule has grown since the 1987 election when Thatcher’s Conservatives lost more than half their seats in Scotland, winning only 10 of the 72 Scottish seats in parliament.
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