Davidson accused of new hard Brexit sell-out

RUTH Davidson has failed to make the case to her Westminster colleagues for retaining Scotland’s place in the single market, letters released under freedom of information laws showed.

Davidson has repeatedly claimed that, as Scottish Tory leader, she would ensure Scotland’s voice is loudly heard in Theresa May’s Cabinet. However, the UK Government’s major offices of state all confirm there were no representations from Davidson about retaining Scotland’s single market membership.

She promised this year’s Scottish Tory conference that Scottish Secretary David Mundell was “making sure that Scotland’s voice is heard loud and clear in the UK Government”. But Downing Street, the Foreign Office, the Brexit department and the Scotland Office all said they did not hold any correspondence from Davidson asking about the single market and freedom of movement.

Edinburgh South West SNP MP Joanna Cherry said the findings showed Davidson was prepared to let the Tories “trample all over Scotland”. Cherry said: “These revelations are deeply embarrassing. It’s clear we have now reached ‘peak Ruth’ and people are rightly beginning to ask – what is the point of Ruth Davidson? She is all talk and no action.” A Scottish Tory spokesperson replied: “Ruth speaks to her colleagues in the UK Government regularly on a range of issues. Clearly, that falls under the radar of Joanna Cherry’s half-baked research.”