SNP does not speak for Scotland, says Ruth Davidson

Ruth Davidson - photo credit: David Anderson

Ruth Davidson will use her Conservative Party conference speech to warn that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP do not speak for Scotland.

The Scottish Tory leader will speak prior to Prime Minister Theresa May, using her speech to attack the idea that Scottish independence is “inevitable”.

She will also argue that “gender is no barrier to advancement” in modern Britain.

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She will say: “The SNP doesn’t speak for all of Scotland. And nor does it have the right to. Every nation is bigger than any one party - bigger than any one person.

“And Scotland is bigger, more varied, more complex than the nation the SNP would like to pretend it is. So, next time you see Nicola Sturgeon picking a fight, or trying to claim the United Kingdom is over, remember, she does not speak for the country.

“And, when she threatens to put yet another divisive referendum back on the table, the nation is not behind her. She’s not speaking for the majority. Because the majority of us want to move on.”

Davidson will also respond to opposition claims that austerity has disproportionately impacted on women.

She will tell conference: “Last week – at a ghettoised ‘women’s conference’ – tacked on to the front of the main event, speaker after Labour speaker rose to denounce the PM as not a real feminist.

“Harriet Harman declared that Theresa May “is a woman – but she is no sister.”

“Well, Harriet, while you were bathing in your own left-wing sanctimony, here’s something you might have missed.

“Theresa May has broken barriers her entire life – first female Conservative Party Chairman, longest serving Home secretary – male or female  - since Henry Matthews in 1892, and only the second female Prime Minister in our country’s history.”