Lib Dems seek Holyrood election gains
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey will tell the Scottish party's conference his plans for a federal UK will create a "genuine partnership of nations and regions'' and are alternative to the SNP and the "distraction'' of independence.
He will use his speech to the Scottish Liberal Democrats virtual conference to claim the failing SNP Government'' ihas been distracted by its pursuit of independence''.
And while he will say he understands why people want "any alternative'' to Boris Johnson's "cruel and incompetent Tory Government'', he will argue that the offer of a more federal UK advanced by the Lib Dems would give Scots "more control over their own lives''.
The speech comes just two months after Sir Ed was voted in as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, replacing Jo Swinson, who stood down from the post after losing her East Dunbartonshire constituency in the 2019 general election.
Scots are facing Holyrood elections in May 2021, with Nicola Sturgeon's SNP set to use the campaign to focus on demands for a second independence referendum
But Sir Ed will tell the conference the federal proposals from his party are a "better way forward''.
He will say: "I can understand why people would seek any alternative to life under Boris Johnson's cruel and incompetent Tory Government.
"But whether it takes four months or four years, Boris Johnson will be gone. The shared history and values of our family of nations - fashioned over centuries - will endure.
"And so it falls to us, as Liberal Democrats, to offer a better way forward. We must offer an alternative to both the dishonest, embarrassingly incompetent Conservative Government in Westminster and the failing SNP Government, distracted by its pursuit of independence from serving the real interests of the Scottish people.
"So we must also offer a new future - a federal future for our United Kingdom.
"A genuine partnership of nations and regions, that gives individuals more control over their own lives.''
Hear all the latest news from across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk on Forth 1. Listen on FM, via the Rayo app, on DAB or on your smart speaker.