Tory push for seats at Holyrood
Davidson says referendum put wind in Tories’ sails
RUTH Davidson yesterday predicted the Tories will have the largest number of MSPs ‘since devolution began’ following next year’s Holyrood election.
The Scottish Tory leader fired the starting gun f or the campaign, claiming she can increase her MSPs from 15 to at least 19 – and insisting her party can one day ‘become the Government of Scotland’.
Last night, David Cameron launched a ferocious attack on Labour. At a boisterous latenight event at the Conservative conference in Manchester, he said: ‘The Labour Party is going and it’s given up on the Union.
‘There is one party and one person who is absolutely passionate about our United Kingdom: it’s the Conservative Party and it’s me, and Ruth Davidson,
and we’re going to fight. We’ve got to fight for our United Kingdom.’
Mr Cameron also rounded on the SNP, saying: ‘The SNP: the shine is coming off the ball. Is the health service better off in Scotland under the SNP? Are educational standards getting better under the SNP?’
In a reference to scandal-hit MP Michelle Thomson, he said: ‘Are we beginning to see their MPs have got one or two things that they need to tell us about. Who’s going to take them on? We are.’
Miss Davidson held her key fringe event yesterday, before she addresses delegates from the main stage on Wednesday. She also:
Unveiled a major new policy pledge to use Holyrood’s powers to give Scottish carers a £600 pay rise.
Claimed employers have told her they are scared to expand because of the prospect of a second referendum on independence.
Accused the SNP of becoming a govern- ment characterised by ‘ cronyism and incompetence’.
Miss Davidson said last year’s independence referendum ‘put a sense of belief back in the Scottish Conservative soul’.
She added: ‘I don’t make predictions for the number of seats we will have but I have made a prediction. I believe we are working towards and we are on course to return the highest number of MSPs since devolution began.
‘That’s the challenge I’m laying down to my candidates.’
The Tories won 18 seats in the Holyrood elections in 1999 and 2003, before dipping to 17 in 2007 and 15 in 2011. In this year’s UK General Election, the Scottish party held on to its one seat but its share of the vote dipped to only 14.9 per cent – the worst result in its history. Crucially, the number of votes increased by 21,242 to 434,097, despite widespread evidence of tactical voting against the SNP by traditional Tories.
Asked if her party could overtake Labour, Miss Davidson replied: ‘That’s not the measure I’ve set myself. That’s not the measure I’ve set the party. I want us to do the best we possibly can and we will see in May.’
Earlier, she told BBC Scotland: ‘It’s my ambition for the Conservatives to become the Government of Scotland. It might not happen at this election but that’s what everybody in politics works toward.’
Miss Davidson also unveiled a policy to increase the carer’s allowance from £62.10 a week to £73.10, to match the level handed out to those on the dole. That would benefit 60,000 carers in Scotland and cost £32million. She said: ‘It has always struck me as an anomaly that these carers receive less money per week than if they were on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
‘Why should someone who is doing so much for a family loved one, and so much for society at large, be treated any less than someone looking for a job?
‘Carer’s allowance is coming to the Scottish parliament with the new Smith powers. So I can announce today that, at the Holyrood election, we will include a commitment to raise carer’s allowance so that, in Scotland, it is never less than that received by jobseekers. This is a measure currently worth an extra £600 ayear.’
On the prospect of a second referendum, she said Nicola Sturgeon had ‘added to the fears of employers in Scotland who are telling me, week in, week out, that speculation of another referendum is damaging their ability to expand’.
She claimed: ‘It’s not good enough. The failure of the SNP to rule out a rerun of last year’s referendum is impacting on Scotland’s investment and jobs.’
But she refused to name any of the companies.
Meanwhile, Miss Sturgeon received a major boost in her bid to force another referendum when a new study revealed a growing divide between England and Scotland on the future of EU membership.
Figures unveiled at the Tory conference yesterday found that support for the UK leaving the EU is on the rise in England, but has declined north of the Border.
If the forthcoming referendum on EU membership produces an Out vote in England and an In vote in Scotland, Miss Sturgeon has already said that could be the key ‘trigger’ for a second referendum.
The YouGov poll found that, in England, 40 per cent of people want to remain in the EU and 43 per cent want to leave, up from a 37/40 split in April. In Scotland, 55 per cent now want to stay in the EU, up from 48 per cent in April, while 30 per cent want to leave – down from 32 per cent in April.
‘Do the best we
possibly can’