Only the Tories will take on the SNP
NO wonder the Nationalists wanted to keep David Cameron out of Scotland: the Prime Minister’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Edinburgh yesterday was nothing short of excoriating.
His reminder that the SNP has been in power in Scotland for nine years now – ‘They are the establishment’ – could not be more timely.
Despite almost a decade in charge, the separatists still comport themselves as though they are in opposition, not in charge. Nothing is their fault. Someone else, usually Westminster, is to blame. grievance and complaint trounce anything constructive.
The Prime Minister cut through that smokescreen. He focused on the litany of failures over which the SNP has presided, from stagnating school attainment to tumbling numbers of college students to poorer university students l eft floundering.
He called out the SNP – self- styled ‘guardian of the NHS’ – on its record over health. Spending in Scotland increased by only 1 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2015, compared to a 7 per cent rise in England. Mr Cameron tackled the SNP on its Named Person scheme – Dr Stuart Waiton lays out the full implications of this sinister undermining of parents on this page.
The separatists fairly howl at the suggestion Scotland is becoming a oneparty state, pointing out that other parties are listed on the ballot papers.
That is, of course, correct, but with its absolute dominance at Holyrood, a stranglehold on its committees and its supporters’ habit of ‘joyously’ shouting down anyone who dares speak up against it, the SNP is becoming a monolith in Scottish politics.
That is as unhealthy now as it was when Labour enjoyed i ts political pre - eminence, arrogantly stitching up deals in smoke-filled rooms hidden from public scrutiny.
No one, not even the Tories themselves, really thinks Scottish l eader Ruth Davidson will be the next First Minister. The great rump of Scots willing to turn a blind eye to the SNP’s myriad faults and vote for its independence agenda will see Miss Sturgeon sweep back to Bute House.
Despite that, yesterday offered much to cheer those of us who grasp the folly of separation and fear the effects of the SNP’s financial illiteracy once it gets its hands on fresh fiscal powers.
It is clear now that the only party in Scotland standing against the high-tax plans of the SNP, Labour and Lib Dems is the Tory Party. The only leader capable of leading an opposition that can hold the Nationalists to account is Ruth Davidson.
Never in Holyrood’s less then stellar history has the choice facing voters been clearer. There was good news, too, on the referendum on membership of the European Union f r om t he Prime Minister.
Miss Sturgeon has been claiming that a vote for so- called Brexit will inevitably lead to another Scottish independence referendum.
Not on David Cameron’s watch, it won’t. He said he has no intention of allowing a second referendum and repeated what everyone bar the SNP zealots know to be true: Scotland emphatically rejected independence on September 18, 2014. Mr Cameron also outlined the road map to finally settling the separatist constitutional grumbling, which they prefer to the heavy lifting required to improve the life of everyday Scots:
‘If you don’t want a second referendum, the best way to send a message to the Scottish government is to vote for Ruth and the Scottish Conservatives.’