We must strengthen UK ties, Davidson urges

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has warned that pro-union parties must “wake up” and do more to strengthen the ties that bind the United Kingdom.

Ms Davidson used a speech in London to caution against complacency as she said the “threat continues” of another referendum on independence.

The Tory leader said pro-union politicians were in danger of thinking May’s general election result, in which the SNP secured 56 of 59 Westminster seats in Scotland, was merely an “electoral spasm”.

A Scottish Parliament with greater responsibility and accountability and a more responsive Westminster system were essential to counter the Nationalists’ rise, Ms Davidson argued.

She told an audience at the Scotland Office: “I never thought independence would simply disappear in a puff of smoke last September.

“The threat continues. It comes in the form of a governing party which claims sole right to speak for Scotland, using that right to weave a story of a slow and inexorable drifting apart.

“And the SNP’s rise tells us we need to show a similar sense of vision and care about our own national story as they have for theirs.”

But Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray MP said: “While Ruth Davidson is down in Whitehall she should have a word with David Cameron, whose conduct after the referendum and during the general election campaign did more to risk the future of the UK than anything else.

“Ruth Davidson was complicit in the Tory campaign of division and grievance, which resorted to English nationalism in order to win votes.”

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson warns that pro-union parties must “wake up”.