Douglas Ross: ‘The Union should not be an afterthought’

Douglas Ross’s speech to the Conservative and Unionist Party conference was uncanny for being both conservative and unionist. The Scottish Tory leader pitched up to his podium and launched into an awkward conversation with colleagues south of the border. His theme was ‘putting an end to defeatism and disinterest’ and both he blamed on the English Tories and their turn away from Unionism. Unionism, in his rendering, was a categorical imperative of British conservatism. ‘You cannot be a conservative and not be a unionist, the two values are inseparable in our politics,’ he pronounced.

However, he protested, this was not the case for ‘far too many members of our party in England’, who ‘do not see support for the continuation of our United Kingdom as a core part of their politics’ or view it as ‘a nostalgic, historic value, rather than a living and integral part of our country’s modern identity’.