Scottish Tory leader accuses SNP of abuses of power and cover-ups

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross on Monday accused the governing Scottish National party of abuses of power while setting out a policy stall for crucial elections in May that includes a universal £500-a-year retraining grant for workers.

In a speech to the Scottish Conservatives’ online spring conference, Ross made clear he hoped a bitter rift between SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond would blunt support for the Nationalists in elections for the parliament in Edinburgh on May 6.

Salmond has told a parliamentary inquiry into the Scottish government’s handling of sexual harassment complaints against him that Sturgeon’s closest associates plotted to drive him from public life. A civil service-led government investigation into the complaints was found to be unlawful in 2019 and Salmond was last year acquitted of all 13 sexual offence charges against him.

Sturgeon’s associates have denied plotting against Salmond and the first minister herself has dismissed claims of a conspiracy as ridiculous, but analysts say the dispute could make it harder for the SNP to win a majority in May that would help its push for a second independence referendum.

“All the latent ugliness in the SNP has broken out, it’s on show for all of Scotland to see,” Ross said. He said the government’s refusal to provide the parliamentary inquiry with all of the evidence it has demanded amounted to a cover-up.

In addition to other unspecified “abuse of power” by the party, he also cited allegations against individual SNP politicians as evidence of “sleaze” and “secrecy” in the party.

I think we have seen in recent weeks the public looking again at Nicola Sturgeon

Such harsh criticism may have some electoral risks, given polls showing Sturgeon still enjoys higher levels of popularity and trust than other main Scottish politicians. However, recent polls suggest the dispute with Salmond could be damaging the first minister’s image.

“I think we have seen in recent weeks the public looking again at Nicola Sturgeon,” Ross said.

In his speech, the Scottish Conservative leader set out a number of expensive proposals, including a £500-per-person annual “Retrain to Rebuild’ account that he said could be made universal by 2023.

Income tax in Scotland for above average earners is slightly higher than in other parts of the UK, but Ross insisted the retraining grant would help fund Conservative plans to eventually cut it back to parity.

“This universal skill offer will benefit all of us, driving up productivity and growth . . . which will bring more money to our public services,” he said.

Without giving detailed costings, Ross also called for expansion of free childcare, recruitment of 3,000 more teachers and creation of a £120m coronavirus “catch-up premium” for school pupils, as well as universal free school lunches and breakfasts for primary children.

Alongside such policies and denunciations of the SNP, Ross made clear that opposition to the SNP independence drive would be central to the Tory campaign. The Conservatives say preventing the SNP winning a parliamentary majority is vital to stop its push for independence, although UK prime minister Boris Johnson has already repeatedly insisted he will not approve a second referendum.

In his speech, Ross claimed the SNP had said in January that it “could pursue an illegal referendum” and that it was now SNP policy to favour a “Catalan-style constitutional clash with the UK government”, a reference to the illegal plebiscite held in the Spanish region in 2017.

In fact, the SNP says the legality of a referendum without UK government approval has not yet been established and has made clear its proposal to hold one without such approval could be blocked by the courts.

“The SNP Scottish government continues to maintain that a referendum must be beyond legal challenge to ensure legitimacy and acceptance at home and abroad,” the party said in January.

The Conservatives hope that focusing on the independence issue will help win over pro-union voters dissatisfied with Labour’s softer tone on the issue.

Anas Sarwar, who became Scottish Labour leader last month, opposes leaving the UK but is trying to avoid alienating independence supporters.

National recovery would be the “entire theme” of Labour’s election campaign, Sarwar said in a speech on Monday. “The polls show us that our country is still divided on the question of independence . . . but holding a different view on the constitution doesn’t mean that we can’t choose to focus on what unites us.”