THE SNP have called on Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to “take a look in the mirror” before calling for greater scrutiny of the Scottish Government after it was revealed that neither candidate has ever turned up to be questioned at the Scottish Parliament.
A Chancellor of the Exchequer has never appeared in Holyrood to be questioned on UK-wide policies, with Rishi Sunak failing to even reply to an invitation to appear before Holyrood’s Finance Committee.
During her time as Chief Secretary Liz Truss also snubbed invitations to Holyrood committees.
It comes after both candidates were accused of attacking devolution after they signalled their intentions to inflict greater oversight on Holyrood if elected prime minister.
Sunak has stated that he will make it a requirement that Scotland’s most senior civil servant is questioned by Westminster’s Public Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee each year.
%image('14505689', type="article-full", alt="Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party leadership hustings in Manchester")
Meanwhile, Truss has promised change the Scotland act to give parliamentary privilege to MSPs to allow more “robust questioning” of ministers.
Keith Brown, Deputy Leader of the SNP, said: “Westminster isn’t working for Scotland – in this case literally.
“The fact that Truss or Sunak have never appeared in front of a Holyrood committee demonstrates just how much contempt they both have for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament. When it comes to increased scrutiny, they should first take a look in the mirror.
“The reality is that they’re both running scared of their abysmal records in government and how they fail the people of Scotland time and time again.
"They both know their catastrophic failures would be exposed even further during a grilling from MSPs.”
He added that throughout the leadership campaign both candidates had shown a lack of respect to the Scottish people.
“Both Truss and Sunak have shown throughout this sorry campaign that they do not respect Scotland, with Truss saying she would ignore the democratically elected First Minister and Rishi Sunak revealing his intention to completely undermine the devolution settlement,” he said.
“The people of Scotland are looking on in despair at the Tory contest, with neither candidate offering anything but disrespect to Scotland.
“Whoever wins the leadership race, Scotland loses. The only way for Scotland to escape the chaos at Westminster and forge our own path as a fairer, wealthier, greener nation is to become an independent country.”
It comes as Liz Truss’s campaign have reportedly began drawing up her potential cabinet after two polls suggested her lead over Rishi Sunak was unassailable.
The Times reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg, Suella Braverman and Iain Duncan Smith may all be offered roles in Liz Truss’s cabinet.
It is alleged that Rishi Sunak could be given the role of Health Secretary in the event of a Truss victory.
There is still over a week to go before the winner of the contest is announced, with hustings debates in Birmingham, Norwich and London scheduled before the deadline for Tory members to cast their ballots.
The winner will be announced on September 5 and is expected to enter Downing Street the following day.
