Jackson Carlaw draws WWII comparison as he looks to 2021 election
The Scottish Tory leader believes the SNP aren't guaranteed success in next year's vote
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw says success is not guaranteed for the SNP at next year’s Holyrood election, claiming: “Churchill won the war but the people turned to Attlee”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, the party leader argued the coronavirus pandemic was the reason for SNP poll numbers remaining steady despite the trial of Alex Salmond and the Derek Mackay scandal.
The Tory leader also said he would accept a delay to the poll next year, depending on how long the current lockdown measures continue.
Mr Carlaw said: “In a national emergency, people do gravitate towards stability and certainty.”
The Tory leader said the constructive response from his party to the Scottish Government's handling of the pandemic has reflected well on them.
He said: “Conservatives are offering support to the Scottish Government during this emergency, we'll be a constructive opposition.
“It was important to people that they knew that they could rely on the opposition party playing its part in that way.”
The Tory leader said that, when normal service is resumed and the campaign for next year's election can begin, there will be no guarantee that the SNP will regain their place as the largest party in Holyrood.
He said: “I still maintain that by the time we come to the election next year, the Scottish Government will have been in power for 14 years, people will have come through an exhausting crisis.
“Let's remember, (Winston) Churchill won the war but the people turned to (Clement) Attlee after it.
“I don't think it follows that the Scottish Government can simply assume that the people of Scotland are all going to fall in behind them when it comes to an election where we're debating the future of Scotland after that.”
As with the general election in December, Scottish independence is bound to be one of the defining issues of next year's election, but Mr Carlaw believes making Scotland's constitutional future a centrepiece of its campaign may hurt the SNP.
He said: “I don't expect nationalists to surrender the ground at this point, but quite honestly I think it will look ridiculous if the first debate that the nationalist movement want to have when we get to the other side of this is 'let's go gung ho for independence next year' then more fool them if they do.
“I think the public will look at that and say 'are you kidding?'”
Mr Carlaw went further, claiming one of the major factors in Scotland being able to tackle the outbreak so aggressively was due to the “economic resilience and strength” of the whole of the UK.
A spokesman for the SNP said: “Jackson Carlaw may be thinking about next year's election - but the First Minister and the SNP government are fully focused on tackling the current health crisis and the impact on jobs and incomes.
“Latest opinion polling shows that the SNP overwhelmingly continues to hold the trust of the Scottish people.
“But Mr Carlaw needs to be very careful with his arguments - the coronavirus pandemic is not a Scottish, British or European issue, it is a global one.
“And the last thing any Scottish politician on any side of the constitutional debate should be doing is trying to use the appalling crisis we all currently face as an argument for or against independence.”
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