SNP 'seeking to weaponise Brexit in bid for second Scottish independence referendum'
Ruth Davidson has accused the SNP of seeking to ``weaponise Brexit'' in a bid to boost support for Scottish independence ahead of a possible second referendum.
Ruth Davidson has accused the SNP of seeking to weaponise Brexit'' in a bid to boost support for Scottish independence ahead of a possible second referendum.
The Scottish Tory leader claimed that nationalists are cranking up the grievance machine in an attempt to push people towards the exit door''.
Ms Davidson travelled to London to warn politicians there that they must not dismiss the challenge the SNP poses, no matter how weak the case for independence may seem''.
Despite Scotland having voted against independence in 2014, Ms Davidson said that the European Union referendum last year - in which most Scots voted to remain part of the EU, but the UK voted to leave - meant there was now the grim possibility'' of another ballot north of the border.
But she said that while some people may think that separation is inevitable'' in theseemingly endless'' constitutional turmoil, she argued the Brexit vote had actually weakened the case for Scotland leaving the UK.
In a speech at the London School of Economics, the Scottish Conservative leader insisted: Despite the uncertainty, the insecurity, and the challenges, the case for the Union - our Union - remains strong, if not stronger, than it ever has.
We just have to ensure that we make the right case, for an outward-looking Britain that provides us all with the opportunities and the stability we all crave.''
In the wake of the vote to quit the EU in 2016, the SNP is itching to get its own campaign bus into gear'', Ms Davidson said, warning that Nicola Sturgeon's party will havelearnt from the tactics'' of the successful leave campaign.
My view is that the case for the Union must be made afresh, and we have to persuade people once again that our own Union of nations still works for us all,'' the Tory MSP said.
And there is something of a Brexit paradox here.
Because while Brexit has provided the means for Nicola Sturgeon to crank up her independence campaign once more - it has also made that case weaker and more illogical than ever.''
Scottish Government figures showed exports from Scotland to the UK were worth #49.8 billion in 2015 - four times the value of exports to the rest of the EU, which amounted to #12.3 billion.
Ms Davidson said: If everyone in Scotland agrees that free trade with Europe is important - and we do - it is literally impossible to deny that trade with the rest of the UK matters four times as much.''
But she claimed the SNP has no intention of using economics to make the case for independence'' if there is a fresh referendum, saying:Instead, it is already cranking up the grievance machine in an attempt to push people towards the exit door.''
While she said Brexit had provided nationalists with plenty of ammunition'' for this, she said the SNP wouldstruggle to succeed''.
The Conservative stated: Simply put, I do not think the majority of people in Scotland will tolerate the SNP setting all things aside over the coming two years to re-fight a campaign on independence.''
While she said Unionists should never forget that 1.6 million Scots voted for independence in 2014, she argued the best way to address people's dissatisfaction is to demonstrate we have a guiding sense of purpose''.
The Tory, who played a prominent part in the campaign to keep Britain in Europe, went on: My own preference would have been for us to make that case as part of the EU.
As we leave, however, there is no reason why we cannot make it now as well.
As a country that pushes at our boundaries, instead of building walls.
As a country that expounds the virtues of free trade and solidarity with our allies and neighbours, knowing that this is the way to ease poverty, to build a more just world, and to make us - here at home - safer and more secure.
As a country that seeks to balance people's hunger for self-determination in a fast-changing world, with the knowledge that we serve nobody by blocking that world from our door.''
She added: I lost the case for one Union last year. I have absolutely no intention of losing another.
But if we are to win the argument, we must step up and demonstrate that our own Union is a living, breathing being which can change when required, which is responsive to people's needs and which is open to the world around us.''
An SNP spokesman said: Ruth Davidson is resorting to fantasy and delusion in trying to deny the economic catastrophe a Tory hard Brexit threatens Scotland with.
We face being dragged out of the world's biggest single market - which is around eight times larger than the UK's alone - against our will, which shows that Theresa May and the Westminster Tories now think they can do anything they want to Scotland and get away with it.
Ruth Davidson, the Brexiteers' apologist in chief, has shamelessly sold out on her commitment to keeping Scotland in the single market, and a hard Brexit threatens 80,000 Scottish jobs over the next decade.
In those circumstances it is absolutely right that independence should be on the table as an option if it becomes clear it is the best or only way of protecting our vital national interests.''