RUTH: THE TRUTH
New book reveals Tory leader was ‘f ****** furious’ over The Vow
RUTH Davidson tried to block The Vow of more powers for Holyrood, fearing the tactic would hand the SNP a massive advantage after a No vote.
A new biography reveals how the Scots Tory leader was “f***ing furious” at the move by David Cameron and other Westminster leaders, just days before the 2014 referendum.
Months earlier, Davidson had signed up to recommendations in the Strathclyde Commission, promising her party would stand on an election platform of significant powers for Holyrood.
But on September 16 that year, the Record revealed how David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg were all promising significant change immediately after the vote.
The Smith Commission were then set up with cross-party involvement, and significant responsibility for tax, welfare and other policies was handed BY ANDY PHILIP a.philip@dailyrecord.co.uk over. In the book, Davidson’s biographer Andrew Liddle, wrote: “Ruth was – in the words of one senior party insider – ‘f***king furious’ with Cameron
over The Vow.
“The Scottish Tory leader – rightly – argued that The Vow would play right into the Nationalist narrative.
“SNP leaders would be able to suggest that they did not lose on the question of independence but rather the vote was one about more powers.”
The revelations sparked a row among the pro-Union parties at Holyrood yesterday.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “All we have to do is look at how the Scottish Tories have behaved over the EU Withdrawal Bill to see what they think about more powers for Scotland.”
But a Tory spokesman said: “It was us who first set out plans for a more powerful Scottish Parliament before the referendum.”