Tories ramp up hostile rhetoric as indyref2 looms for Scotland
RUTH Davidson declared war on the SNP over independence as she told Nicola Sturgeon “we will fight you every step of the way” if a second referendum is called. In the most hardline Unionist language yet from the Scottish Conservative leader, Davidson issued a rallying cry to her party to prepare for a second vote on independence.
Davidson accused Sturgeon of “trying to bounce us into another referendum” as she delivered her keynote speech to the Scottish Conservative conference in Glasgow yesterday.
However, an SNP cabinet minister hit back and said the Tory leader was treating Scotland’s overwhelming vote to remain last year “as an irrelevance”.
Last night, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “They’re determined to lead Scotland off a cliff edge without giving Scotland a choice of a different future.
“Ruth Davidson doesn’t even think we should be offered a choice, never mind make it. So much for respect for democracy.”
Davidson sought to present herself as the leader of a “government in waiting” and an alternative First Minister to Sturgeon.
In an extraordinary attack on Sturgeon, Davidson accused the First Minister of leading a government that “obsesses over the colour of a flag”.
Davidson said the First Minister had “a deaf ear to the actual people of Scotland” and that the SNP had pursued a “grievance-hunting agenda” during its decade in office.
Addressing Sturgeon personally in raised tones, Davidson said: “Scotland said no to independence. Scotland is saying – stop trying to bounce us into another referendum. This party – the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party – will never waver in our determination to stand up for the decision we made as a country. We will fight you every step of the way. We said no. We meant it. Are you listening, Nicola Sturgeon? No. Second. Referendum.”
The intervention represented the clearest signal yet that the Tories are preparing for the SNP to call a second referendum soon after the formal Brexit process is triggered later this month.
Davidson added: “How much longer do we have to put up with a Nationalist party that puts its grievance-hunting agenda, before all our priorities.”
In a speech that drew heavily on defence of the Union, Davidson repeatedly accused the SNP of seeking to “denigrate the UK to advance your cause” of independence.
Davidson, who would almost certainly play a leading role in a second No campaign, highlighted what she said was Scotland’s role in the armed forces.
She said: “Reflect on the troops at Lossiemouth, at Leuchars, at Faslane, defending democracy and advancing liberty 24-7, 365 days a year – in our name. Consider what this country – at its best – gives us. A country which punches above its weight on the world stage.”
Davidson added: “I know our country has its faults, conference. But I tell the SNP, as you choose to denigrate the UK to advance your cause, don’t dare claim that Britain isn’t a land worth living in.”
In a hardening of the battle lines over independence, Davidson also talked about her own “love for this country”. She said Sturgeon was neglecting public services while pursuing her “constitutional obsession” of independence.
Davidson said: “This SNP Government is failing Scotland. And that this Scottish Conservative party is ready to serve. Ready to demand a politics that no longer obsesses over the colour of a flag, but rather focuses on the content of our lives.”
She said the SNP was obsessed with “re-fighting old battles” as she accused the party of ignoring the vote against independence in 2014.
Davidson said: ”Are you as sick and tired as I am of their arrogance? Are you as angry as I am that the result of a democratic vote – one that the SNP promised to respect just three years ago – is being torn up in front of our eyes?
“Yes, they’re the government. They’ve got the ministerial offices and the chauffeured cars. But they work for us, the people of Scotland. And the people of Scotland are telling them loud and clear you’re not on. We don’t share your constitutional obsession.”
However, the SNP’s Mackay, who is also the party’s business convener, accused the Tories of a “constitutional obsession with a hard Brexit”.
He said: “Ruth Davidson conveniently ignores and forgets that Scotland voted by a decisive 24-point margin to remain in the EU, with every single local authority area voting to remain. Yet, she is determined to see Scotland taken out of the EU against our will, treating the result here as an irrelevance.
“Since June, the Scottish Government has consistently sought to find areas of compromise, with the UK Government. Yet, despite its promise to listen and to seek agreement, whenever Scotland’s voice is asserted, the reaction of Westminster is to say No. Ruth Davidson is simply ploughing that same furrow.
“The hypocrisy of the Tories’ position is lost on no-one. Their constitutional obsession with a hard Brexit will cause untold damage to Scotland’s economy. They’re determined to lead Scotland off a cliff edge without a choice of a different future. Ruth Davidson doesn’t even think we should be offered a choice, never mind make it. So much for respect for democracy.”