Letters: The key to Scotland’s future

The key to the Union

Sir: ‘Love-bombing’ the Scottish electorate with supplemental spending in devolved areas (‘The break-up’, 27 February) is unlikely to prove a decisive tactic in the ongoing battle over Scottish independence. It will never be enough, and the average voter will not distinguish Westminster spend from Holyrood’s.

Neither should opposition to an independence referendum be the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party’s primary policy in the upcoming Holyrood election. Falling into the SNP trap of focusing on this issue allows the party to pursue its agenda of confected grievance and division. Secession is the SNP’s preferred battleground, not least because it permits deflection of their record in government.

The keys to May’s election, and Scotland’s future, are the former Labour and Liberal Democrat voters. Conservatives in both Westminster and Holyrood need to shine a clear light on the failure of the SNP to use one of the strongest devolved parliaments in the world to improve the lives of the people of Scotland.