Ross vow to put independence debate in past
Conservative MP Douglas Ross said he wanted to put the debate about Scottish independence “in the past” as he launched his leadership campaign yesterday.
Mr Ross is currently the only candidate to replace Jackson Carlaw, who suddenly quit as Scottish Tory leader after just five months in the role, as internal party polling suggested he was making no headway with voters.
Mr Ross, who is being backed by former leader Ruth Davidson, launched his campaign in Aberdeen yesterday after announcing his decision to stand the day before.
Asked about a second independence referendum, he said: “We had that debate. We had that vote six years ago and we were told it was a once-in-ageneration event. What I want to do is leave that in the past.”
The Moray MP stepped down as a Scotland Office minister in May over Boris Johnson adviser Dominic Cummings’s trip to Durham during lockdown. Asked how he felt about Mr Cummings remaining in his job, he said: “It is for the Prime Minister to decide who his advisers are, but I had a decision to take and, if I had remained in government, I would have been defending the actions taken by Dominic Cummings.
“I left government on that basis and I stood up for what I believed was right in that situation, and I stand by my decision,”
He vowed that if elected leader to build a “diverse coalition of Scottish voters”.
Mr Ross added: “Over 13 years too much power has been drawn into the SNP’s hands in Edinburgh and our regions, cities and towns have lost control.”
Mr Ross has asked Ruth Davidson to front the party at First Minister’s Questions until he is elected as a MSP. She said: “I’m not coming back as the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. I’m very, very happy, proud and excited to call Douglas Ross my boss.”