Douglas Ross is the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, the MP for Moray, and an MSP for the Highlands and Islands region.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on whether Nicola Sturgeon can legislate for a second Scottish independence referendum was swift, decisive and unanimous, confirmed what legal and political commentators had anticipated – that the wording of the Scotland Act 1998 meant what it said. Devolution, while it delivers most powers, and the responsibility for how they are used, does not alter the fact that the UK Government remains just as much Scotland’s Government as Holyrood is.
Despite the choreographed responses from the SNP, there was nothing “triumphalist” about Conservative responses to this judgment, which was a confirmation of any reasonable reading of the legislation.
On the contrary: Rishi Sunak immediately reiterated the position that the Scottish Conservatives have always taken: we must get both Scotland’s governments working together to address people’s real priorities.
That is exactly what the SNP doesn’t want. They have been in power here for 15 years. The sole purpose of the party is to break up the United Kingdom. This is starkly illustrated by the fact that, while the axe has been taken to almost every area of spending – despite Scotland’s appallingly-mismanaged NHS being on its knees and other public services at breaking point – the £20 million set aside for a referendum remained sacrosanct.
Indeed, it still does, even though we now know there won’t be one next October, as Sturgeon planned.
When the First Minister talks about democracy being denied, she’s right. Her problem is that she’s the one doing it. The majority of Scots – by a margin of more than 10 per cent – rejected separation in 2014. All polling suggests they don’t want a second referendum, especially not now. Everyone else except a Yes-emblazoned tinfoil hat obsessive has other priorities.
And when she says that devolution is being undermined, she’s right again. It’s being subverted by her party, which has no interest in making it work, but has always regarded it as a staging post on the road to separatism.
The SNP likes to present itself as a reasonable, moderate, social democratic party. All too often it is accepted as that, especially by those who don’t have to deal with them or the consequences of their policies. But really it is fixated on independence and has little interest in anything else.
Independence is the solution to all problems. Its absence is the cause of all woes.
Anywhere else, this would be seen as the ridiculous demagoguery that it is.
But in the aftermath of this judgment, the mask is beginning to slip. Now that this bid for another referendum has been exposed as no more than a stunt, waged at Scottish taxpayers’ expense to appease nationalist extremists, Sturgeon’s only option has been to double down on the grievance-mongering.
The court was particularly withering on the SNP submission, separate from the Scottish Government’s case, that drew offensive comparisons with Kosovo and colonial or occupied territories. That is territory where even Alex Salmond wouldn’t tread.
Yet it’s exactly the kind of rhetoric Nicola Sturgeon immediately deployed. Barely an hour after the Supreme Court pointed out that Scotland has no shortage of democratic recourses, she was arguing that it doesn’t.
The SNP currently has the largest number of MSPs and is in government in coalition with the Scottish Greens (who now seem primarily interested in independence, rather than the environment). But that’s not in itself any kind of mandate for a second referendum – especially since Nicola Sturgeon herself said, just before the last election, that anyone opposed to one should still vote SNP. As soon as the polls closed she changed her tune and claimed their vote was for IndyRef2. What rubbish.
It is just eight short years ago that the people of Scotland made it clear they wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom – and now they want their politicians focused on their priorities. Again, Sturgeon is ignoring the majority of Scots as she pursues her absurd ambition to make the next general election a ‘de facto referendum’.
Despite her messianic conviction, she doesn’t get to impose how, why, or on what basis people vote. So whatever the outcome, it cannot be a proxy vote to break up the UK.
Like all Unionists, I’m committed to ensuring that won’t happen. Like all Scots who take a rational look at the enormous benefits Scotland derives as part of the UK, and the potentially catastrophic outcomes of separatism, I’ll do everything I can to make sure we put the case for remaining a crucial component of one of the world’s most enduring, powerful, and successful nations.
And I genuinely believe that the fact that the SNP have now been exposed for what they are – obsessed with dividing us, and nothing else – will lead people to take a closer look at their abysmal record of failure in government.
Scotland under the Sturgeon is currently the highest-taxed and worst governed part of the UK. It lags behind the rest of the country on most points of comparison, despite getting more UK Government spending on public services. That’s entirely the result of the SNP’s failure to square up to its responsibilities, rather than concentrating on their separatist fantasies.
The Scottish Conservatives are the only solid opposition to that – as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar proved with his weak response to the Supreme Court ruling. We have faith in Scotland’s colossal strengths and potential, and believe they thrive and are enhanced by our role within the United Kingdom. And I know and expect that Conservatives from every part of the UK will support us in pursuing that aim.
Douglas Ross is the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, the MP for Moray, and an MSP for the Highlands and Islands region.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on whether Nicola Sturgeon can legislate for a second Scottish independence referendum was swift, decisive and unanimous, confirmed what legal and political commentators had anticipated – that the wording of the Scotland Act 1998 meant what it said. Devolution, while it delivers most powers, and the responsibility for how they are used, does not alter the fact that the UK Government remains just as much Scotland’s Government as Holyrood is.
Despite the choreographed responses from the SNP, there was nothing “triumphalist” about Conservative responses to this judgment, which was a confirmation of any reasonable reading of the legislation.
On the contrary: Rishi Sunak immediately reiterated the position that the Scottish Conservatives have always taken: we must get both Scotland’s governments working together to address people’s real priorities.
That is exactly what the SNP doesn’t want. They have been in power here for 15 years. The sole purpose of the party is to break up the United Kingdom. This is starkly illustrated by the fact that, while the axe has been taken to almost every area of spending – despite Scotland’s appallingly-mismanaged NHS being on its knees and other public services at breaking point – the £20 million set aside for a referendum remained sacrosanct.
Indeed, it still does, even though we now know there won’t be one next October, as Sturgeon planned.
When the First Minister talks about democracy being denied, she’s right. Her problem is that she’s the one doing it. The majority of Scots – by a margin of more than 10 per cent – rejected separation in 2014. All polling suggests they don’t want a second referendum, especially not now. Everyone else except a Yes-emblazoned tinfoil hat obsessive has other priorities.
And when she says that devolution is being undermined, she’s right again. It’s being subverted by her party, which has no interest in making it work, but has always regarded it as a staging post on the road to separatism.
The SNP likes to present itself as a reasonable, moderate, social democratic party. All too often it is accepted as that, especially by those who don’t have to deal with them or the consequences of their policies. But really it is fixated on independence and has little interest in anything else.
Independence is the solution to all problems. Its absence is the cause of all woes.
Anywhere else, this would be seen as the ridiculous demagoguery that it is.
But in the aftermath of this judgment, the mask is beginning to slip. Now that this bid for another referendum has been exposed as no more than a stunt, waged at Scottish taxpayers’ expense to appease nationalist extremists, Sturgeon’s only option has been to double down on the grievance-mongering.
The court was particularly withering on the SNP submission, separate from the Scottish Government’s case, that drew offensive comparisons with Kosovo and colonial or occupied territories. That is territory where even Alex Salmond wouldn’t tread.
Yet it’s exactly the kind of rhetoric Nicola Sturgeon immediately deployed. Barely an hour after the Supreme Court pointed out that Scotland has no shortage of democratic recourses, she was arguing that it doesn’t.
The SNP currently has the largest number of MSPs and is in government in coalition with the Scottish Greens (who now seem primarily interested in independence, rather than the environment). But that’s not in itself any kind of mandate for a second referendum – especially since Nicola Sturgeon herself said, just before the last election, that anyone opposed to one should still vote SNP. As soon as the polls closed she changed her tune and claimed their vote was for IndyRef2. What rubbish.
It is just eight short years ago that the people of Scotland made it clear they wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom – and now they want their politicians focused on their priorities. Again, Sturgeon is ignoring the majority of Scots as she pursues her absurd ambition to make the next general election a ‘de facto referendum’.
Despite her messianic conviction, she doesn’t get to impose how, why, or on what basis people vote. So whatever the outcome, it cannot be a proxy vote to break up the UK.
Like all Unionists, I’m committed to ensuring that won’t happen. Like all Scots who take a rational look at the enormous benefits Scotland derives as part of the UK, and the potentially catastrophic outcomes of separatism, I’ll do everything I can to make sure we put the case for remaining a crucial component of one of the world’s most enduring, powerful, and successful nations.
And I genuinely believe that the fact that the SNP have now been exposed for what they are – obsessed with dividing us, and nothing else – will lead people to take a closer look at their abysmal record of failure in government.
Scotland under the Sturgeon is currently the highest-taxed and worst governed part of the UK. It lags behind the rest of the country on most points of comparison, despite getting more UK Government spending on public services. That’s entirely the result of the SNP’s failure to square up to its responsibilities, rather than concentrating on their separatist fantasies.
The Scottish Conservatives are the only solid opposition to that – as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar proved with his weak response to the Supreme Court ruling. We have faith in Scotland’s colossal strengths and potential, and believe they thrive and are enhanced by our role within the United Kingdom. And I know and expect that Conservatives from every part of the UK will support us in pursuing that aim.