Nicola Sturgeon has a target painted on her back. Sadly for her, it’s the size of Ben Nevis. Failing public bodies, collapsing school grades and a census as poorly received as Jerry Sadowitz’s Edinburgh Fringe show means taking aim at the SNP is a popular and easy win. The Tory leadership bandwagon rattles its way into Scotland tonight, for its first and only hustings there. The debate in Perth provides the perfect opportunity for the most dangerous drinking game ever concocted: imbibe every time someone bashes Sturgeon and her barmy army.
Paisley-raised Liz Truss, who brands herself as ‘a child of the union’, said she would ‘never let anyone talk down Scotland’s potential’ – but is happy to blast the country’s leader. Earlier this month she clashed with the First Minister, branding the seven-year leader of Scotland an ‘attention seeker’ who should be ‘ignored’. Sturgeon hit back, accusing Truss of projecting, claiming the Tory hopeful asked her for advice on how to get into Vogue, in which the Scot has, somehow, appeared twice.
Following the mantra of sticking to what you know, former Trade Secretary Liz Truss is now pledging to reduce international trade barriers for Scottish exporters, noting ahead of the debate the ‘longstanding 150 per cent tariff on Scotch Whisky in India’ that she would seek to eradicate.
The runaway leadership favourite has also committed to extending parliamentary privilege to MSPs at Holyrood through an amendment to the Scotland Act. This would give Scotland’s representatives the same rights as those in Westminster to speak in parliament without fear of legal action. It would also, deliciously, put Ian Blackford’s flock in a constitutional paradox: would they vote for Scottish MSPs to have more rights if it meant harsher scrutiny of their party’s leader? In a statement last night Truss said:
For too long, people in Scotland have been let down by the SNP focusing on constitutional division instead of their priorities. That won’t happen under my watch. I’ll make sure that my government does everything to ensure elected representatives hold the devolved administration to account for its failure to deliver the quality public services, particularly health and education, that Scottish people deserve.
Nobody could blame Rishi Sunak, trailing by 30 points in the polls, if he was more focused on finishing the pool, hot tub and tennis court complex at his £1.5m north Yorkshire manor than the intricacies of the Scottish civil service. At least there will be someone to use the facility when September rolls around, but for now he’s pledged to make the Scottish Government’s civil servants answer to Westminster as well as Holyrood. Under his plans Holyrood’s Permanent Secretary, currently former DWP stalwart John-Paul Marks, would be dragged annually to London for a ritual grilling by the Public Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.
Rishi’s other grand plan is to force the SNP to publish data in line with the rest of the UK, amid accusations, from the ex-chancellor himself, that the National Records of Scotland publish ‘selective or inconsistent data’ that obscure the true performance of ailing public bodies. Scotland’s census, for example, was pushed back by a year to 2022 – a decision taken unilaterally by the Scottish Government that knocked it out of kilter with the rest of the UK.The result was nothing short of chaos as census response rates hit all-time lows of under 90 per cent.
Given their previous issues with ballots, CCHQ will just be hoping the return rate of Tory ballots manages to be higher than that…
This article is free to read
To unlock more articles, subscribe to get 3 months of unlimited access for just $5
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in