The Scottish Conservatives manifesto launched today references a possible referendum on independence more times than the NHS.
Announcing his party's priorities ahead of the Holyrood election next month, Douglas Ross claimed Scotland cannot rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic until the "threat" of a second referendum is removed.
The Tory MP claimed today that Nicola Sturgeon would "wreck" the economy if she persisted with plans for an IndyRef2 while society was still grappling with the impact of covid.
A quick search of his party's manifesto reveals the word "referendum" is mentioned 30 times, the word "independence" a dozen times, and "NHS" 26 times.
In a now familiar pitch to voters who are opposed to independence, Ross said only his party was strong enough to stand up to the Nationalists and stop them winning a majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
He claimed Labour was still weak when it came to protecting the Union and could not be trusted when it came to preserving the Union.
In a virtual speech on Monday, Ross said the SNP leader was acting like she already had the election "in the bag".
“We cannot trust the SNP to deliver our recovery," he said. “We cannot rebuild Scotland, while we are crippled by the threat of an independence referendum.
“So we need to take that threat off the table. We need to ensure the Scottish Parliament is laser-focused on our national interest right now, not party-political priorities.
"We need to prevent the SNP from winning a majority, from having total control.
"And it is only by voting for the Scottish Conservatives, that we can achieve this. “n 2016, half a million Scots gave their party list vote to us and together we stopped an SNP majority that all the pundits believed was inevitable."
Ross continued: “Just like last time, Nicola Sturgeon thinks she has got this election in the bag. But if we come together again, we can prove her wrong again."
The manifesto also includes an aim to end unemployment with plans for £500 Retrain to Rebuild grants to kick-start a skills revolution, Job Security Councils, Rapid Retraining Courses, an Enterprise Bill within the first 100 days of the new Parliament to establish an economic development agency in every region, a new Scottish Exporting Institute, and a ‘Scotland First’ approach to public procurement.
It also sets out a plan to focus on recovery and fully fund Scotland’s health service with a ‘double lock’ to protect the NHS budget, a £600 million task force to reduce treatment times, and plans to reverse what the Tories call "the SNP’s centralisation".
Ross added the manifesto “sets out the issues that the Scottish Conservatives will fight for in the next Parliament”, including protecting free speech by scrapping the Hate Crime Act, ending the SNP’s soft-touch justice system with a Local Policing Act and a Victims Law, and wraparound childcare to expand flexibility for parents.
What do you think of the manifesto? Have your say in the comments section.
