New PM must free us of this SNP sickness
AS the Tory leadership contest enters a crucial phase, the competitors vying for the top job are ramping up their efforts to win the backing of MPs and, ultimately, party members.
Whoever emerges as the winner will have to heal the bitter divisions of recent months and – from their first moments in Downing Street – expedite planning for the next general election, in January 2025 or sooner.
That means the margin for error in selecting Boris Johnson’s successor is small. It is a choice that will decide whether the party stays in office or hands power to Labour – a catastrophe for any prospect of economic recovery.
The contest has allowed a serious debate to take place over what the Tories’ purpose should be, a question that many Conservative voters have been asking as the level of taxation as a proportion of GDP soars to the highest level since the 1950s.
In that context, it’s concerning, as we reveal today, that Rishi Sunak privately lobbied for a new green levy on fuel last year when he was Chancellor.
For all of his ‘jam tomorrow’ promises on tax reduction, many of the major decisions he made while in that role showed a tin ear for the enormous financial pressures families face.
The primary task of Mr Johnson’s successor at the next election will be reconnecting with disenchanted Tory voters, and persuading people that their financial burden can be eased.
Penny Mordaunt’s strongly pro-Union stance is highly encouraging but other aspects of her record might cause alarm.
Her transgender views, which she insists are ‘simple and straightforward’, are anything but as she appears to tie herself in knots over whether she believes trans women are women, as she has stated.
Liz Truss was accused of the most expensive Zoom call in history at a virtual hustings when she committed to reversing a planned corporation tax hike, which would cost around £16billion, and removing green levies from energy bills.
But isn’t it refreshing that she has identified these barriers to economic growth after an extraordinarily tough period for businesses and bill-payers?
In Scotland, voters are desperate for a Prime Minister who understands the continuing threat posed by the SNP to the Union. Nicola Sturgeon has embarked on a series of ridiculous constitutional stunts after failing to secure consent from the UK Government for a second referendum.
But the SNP’s unending stream of bile – pouring poison into political debate and fomenting cross-Border division at every turn – shows no sign of abating.
Countering its brazen propaganda, while refusing to give any ground to the separatists’ demands, must be priorities for the new PM.
It is heartening that the leadership frontrunners are opposed to any prospect of a second referendum, but they must also demonstrate that they understand how the SNP operates.
Scots are sick of the circularity of the independence debate, such as it is, and appalled at a string of botched SNP reforms which have left public services in a state of perpetual crisis.
The next PM must give them fresh hope for a future free from the failure and divisiveness of the past 15 years.