Ruth Davidson Promises No More Devolution If She Wins Scottish Tory Leadership

Ruth Davidson has promised to draw a “line in the sand” on the constitution by promising the Scottish Conservatives would oppose more powers for Holyrood if she is elected leader.







Speaking at the official launch of her campaign in Edinburgh, she said the range of powers included in the Coalition Government’s Scotland Bill should be the final word on devolution.

She also delivered a withering attack on leadership rival Murdo Fraser’s plans to start a new right-wing party to replace the Tories, saying there would be “existential crisis, no wringing of hands” under her leadership.

But the 32-year-old estimated that it would take a decade to turn around the Scottish Conservatives’ dismal election performances and make the party a political force.

Miss Davidson also brushed aside concerns about how she could lead the current Holyrood group of MSPs, the largest group of whom have backed Mr Fraser and his plan for a new party.

Sir Jamie McGrigor has become the latest MSP to back him. But the leadership contest will be decided by party members, many of whom remain fiercely loyal to the Tory brand and deeply suspicious about devolution threatening the Union.

Mr Fraser remains the bookies’ favourite to replace Annabel Goldie as leader but has not ruled out supporting the transfer of more taxation powers to Holyrood after the Scotland Bill has been enacted.

This was vigorously opposed by Miss Davidson, who said: “The Scotland Bill currently going through Westminster is the line in the sand.

“The time for arguing about the powers the people want is over. It’s time now to use the powers that we have.”

The Glasgow MSP also claimed to be the best candidate to thwart Alex Salmond’s separation plan during the forthcoming independence referendum campaign.

“I believe the United Kingdom is a force for good in the world. I will make that positive case for the Union and together we will win as we have right on our side,” Miss Davidson said.

“No halfway house, no second question, no march to fiscal autonomy. When the referendum is done and Scotland in the Union has won the day, let that be an end to it.”

The early skirmishes of the campaign have been dominated by Mr Fraser’s assertion that the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party has no future in its current form and must be replaced.

The Daily Telegraph has revealed how a jittery Mr Fraser has sent messages to hundreds of sceptical members trying to convince them this would not mean disbanding their party.

In an appeal to rank-and-file members, Miss Davidson said: “I have no interest in change for its own sake. We could spend the next 12 months discussing the internal machinations of the party.

“We could tie ourselves in knots. Alex Salmond would love that. Real change for the Scottish Conservatives won’t come from a new name.”

She added: “Under my leadership, there will be no existential crisis, no wringing of hands. Instead I want people to call themselves Scottish, Conservative and Unionist.”

Jackson Carlaw, a West of Scotland MSP also opposed to Mr Fraser's plan, is the third candidate standing for the leadership.

Tory MSP Defiant Over Breakaway Bid

A Tory politician who announced plans for a breakaway party in Scotland without consulting Prime Minister David Cameron insists he has the political and financial support for a "new dawn" despite being rejected by the party's biggest Scottish donor.











Murdo Fraser launched his bid to lead the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (SCUP) in Scotland on Monday with a pledge to disband it and create a new centre-right party north of the border.

The Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP has been accused of "dividing the party" and sparking a "civil war" by opponents within and outside the Conservative Party.

Mr Fraser said he has not discussed his plans with Mr Cameron as it would be "inappropriate" for the leader of the UK Conservative Party to take a position in a Scottish leadership election.

He also dismissed claims by his main leadership rival, West of Scotland MSP Jackson Carlaw, that a rejection by the party's biggest Scottish donor was "a fatal blow" to his leadership campaign.

Sir Jack Harvie, the transport tycoon and philanthropist, said Focus on Scotland, the vehicle which currently provides the majority funding for the SCUP, would not extend its funding arrangement to Mr Fraser's party

Speaking at the launch, Mr Fraser expressed disappointment with Mr Harvie's comments but said he has received support from others in the business community.

He said: "I can tell you that among existing donors to the party there is a deep sense of disillusionment, that the money that they have given to the party in recent years has not been well spent.

"They have been paying for successive campaigns with absolutely no political progress and there is a great deal of appetite for a new centre-right force in Scotland amongst people in the business community."

Mr Fraser has already gained the support of airport car park magnate John McGlynn, engineering tycoon Jim McColl and property developer Robert Kilgour for his plans.

'We Can Kill Independence And Break The SNP' — Murdo Fraser To Launch Leadership Bid With Bold Message

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser has promised to "kill independence" and "break the SNP" if elected new Scottish Conservative leader.










The Perthshire politician, who is favourite to succeed Annabel Goldie, will outline his vision of a "new unionism" when he officially announces his leadership bid on Monday.

He will tell supporters the UK faces a "serious threat" and that the SNP's promised independence referendum will be the "central issue" of Scottish politics in the next few years.

Mr Fraser will use the speech to outline his vision of how the Tories can make their mark in Scotland against a background of an SNP majority at Holyrood and the looming independence referendum.

"Strengthening the union will be at the centre of everything I will do," he will say. "If Alex Salmond really believed in his own message, he would put his money where his mouth is and have a single-question referendum. No second question. No Salmond cop-out. Separation — yes or no.

"Then we can move on. We can be positive about Scotland and positive about the United Kingdom. We can kill independence and break the SNP."

Significantly, Mr Fraser will also reject full Scottish fiscal autonomy, under which all taxes would be set by Holyrood, describing it as "independence in disguise."

It had previously been thought he was open-minded about such a possibility, a view that could have put him at odds with Prime Minister David Cameron.

But he will say: "I support a new form of unionism. A new unionism that will give the people of Scotland the ability to shape their own future.

'New unionism'

"A new unionism that will provide financial devolution to the Scottish Parliament, because with power will come responsibility.

"A new unionism that calls for a more decentralised United Kingdom, at ease with itself, knowing that the whole will always be greater than the sum of the parts."

He will reiterate support for the extra powers for the Scottish Parliament set out in the Scotland Bill but reject other measures wanted by the SNP such as control of corporation tax.

"But I strongly support the principles of financial devolution, where the Scottish Parliament is more responsible for the money it spends."

But SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell attacked Mr Fraser's comments.

"Before he continues with his campaign Mr Fraser might want to reconsider his language," he said. "The last politician to threaten to 'kill nationalism' saw his party lose at this year's elections and the public back a majority SNP Government.

"Scotland wants a parliament that is working hard to build a better future, to create jobs and grow the economy. Whilst opposition parties spend their time in internal leadership wrangles the SNP will next week set out a positive programme for government that will address the concerns of voters across Scotland and take this country forward."

Call for 'Clarity' On Independence

A senior Liberal Democrat has accused First Minister Alex Salmond of backing away from the key SNP policy for full independence.











Lord Wallace of Tankerness, the Advocate General and former deputy first minister, said Mr Salmond will stop short of the aim and settle instead for maximum powers within the UK.

In an interview with The Times newspaper, Lord Wallace said: "The First Minister is a very forceful character and someone who in spite of all the rhetoric about independence actually knows on which side the bread is buttered and therefore will push for maximum powers but stop short.

"I wouldn't say he was a feartie but he's got his head screwed on the right way."

He called for "clarity" on what independence means and an early referendum, and compared Mr Salmond with Jordi Pujol, a Catalonian politician who settled for devolved powers within the Spanish state.

Lord Wallace's provocative claim follows interventions from other senior Lib Dem MPs in recent days. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the SNP has questions to answer on areas such as currency, bank regulation, EU membership and defence after independence.

Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, another Scottish Lib Dem MP, said the country's deficit would have been the largest in Europe, according to the gap between taxes raised and what was spent in 2009-10.

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: "The First Minister is totally committed to independence, as are growing numbers of people in Scotland, and we will give people that chance to choose independence in the referendum we have promised.

"Jim Wallace's problem is that he didn't even manage to be Scotland's Jordi Pujol when he had the chance. With every week that passes his party seem to be retreating further and further from their supposed policy of more powers for Scotland's national Parliament - and instead are acting as a front for a Tory Government Scotland didn't vote for.

"The Lib Dems now sound like the Scottish Tories did in the 1990s, and it is having exactly the same result on their level of support."

A Formula For The Break-Up Of Britain

When the Barnett formula was devised in 1978, it was meant to share annual Government spending equitably between the countries of the United Kingdom according to their populations.


















Unjust: Joel - now Baron - Barnett has advocated scrapping the funding formula he devised for Scotland

In the intervening decades, it has become nothing less than a grossly unfair tax on the English to subsidise lavish public services in Scotland.

This is because the formula has not changed, though the population of England has risen sharply over those 33 years, while that of Scotland has remained static.

The result is that the Scottish subsidy has grown to such an extent that even Lord Barnett, the former Labour cabinet minister who invented the formula, thinks it is unjust and should be scrapped.

New figures which we reveal today show that public spending is now £1,624 per person higher in Scotland than in England, up 15 per cent in just a year.

This equates to the average English family being forced to pay more than £400 a year to fund Scottish services, and that the figure is sure to go on rising.

The scale of the handout allows the Scots to enjoy benefits the English can only dream of – free prescriptions, residential elderly care, university tuition, primary school meals, hospital parking, and most recently cancer drugs.

The injustice is palpable and, unless rectified, it presents a real danger to the integrity of the Union.













Danger to the integrity of the Union: Scottish National Party leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond wants full independence.

Recent opinion polls show fewer than a third of Scots in favour of independence. But in England, a clear majority believe it is time for them to go it alone.

If the Barnett formula is not reformed, resentment south of the border can only grow and it may soon be the English, not the Scots who demand the break-up of the United Kingdom.

Is it too cynical to suggest that is precisely what Scottish Nationalist leader Alex Salmond wants?

Harsh but fair

Even the leader of Britain’s prison governors has now joined the shrill chorus of liberal protest over tough punishments meted out to those involved in this month’s riots.

In an extraordinary and intemperate attack, Eoin McLennan-Murray accuses magistrates of indulging in a ‘sentencing frenzy’, likening them to ‘sharks when there’s blood in the water’.

He said guidelines were being flouted and defendants unfairly treated.












Flashpoint: Riots across London and other cities of England in earlier this month were among the worst scenes of civil disobedience in recent history.

There is no doubt that magistrates and judges have taken a robust approach. Of more than 1,400 people brought before the courts in connection with the mayhem, around 70 per cent have either been given jail terms or remanded in custody awaiting sentence — far more than is usual.

But what did Mr McLennan-Murray expect magistrates to do? Put them back on the streets to wreak more havoc?

Offences included aggravated burglary, robbery, violent disorder, assault, arson and even murder.

In their own right these are all serious crimes, but against a backdrop of indiscriminate looting, destruction and anarchy they constitute a serious danger to the fabric of society.

So, understandably, the courts came down hard on perpetrators, in many cases handing out exemplary sentences.

If punishments are deemed too harsh, there is a perfectly sound appeal court system to moderate them.

And precisely what does sentencing policy have to do with a prison governor anyway? His role is surely to contain, and where possible rehabilitate offenders, not determine how long they should serve.

Perhaps Mr McLennan-Murray should just get on with his own job and let magistrates get on with theirs.

Britain And US Accused Of Playing Politics With Megrahi's Condition

The British and US governments were last night accused of ignoring the law and engaging in "international politicking" over the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.










Alex Salmond said images of Megrahi in a coma and close to death showed why he had been released in the first place.

The Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond turned on the Foreign Secretary William Hague and on US senators who have repeatedly criticised the decision by his Scottish nationalist administration to free Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

He said images from Tripoli showing Megrahi in a coma and close to death underlined why he had been released in the first place and suggested that calls for his return to prison in Scotland had no legal standing.

Privately, government sources admit that they have no interest in pursuing the extradition of Megrahi despite the regime change in Libya. But they are anxious not to be seen as condoning the decision to release him. Macabre as it may be, ministers would like to see Megrahi die quickly and end the two-year controversy over his early release.

In his first public comments on the case since the fall of Tripoli, Mr Salmond welcomed the view of the Libyan transitional council that it would not consider extraditing Megrahi either to the UK or the US. "Perhaps if we all followed due process of law as the Scottish government has done and ceased the international politicking around this, then we could all be in a much better place," he said.

"The only people with any authority in this matter are the Scottish government who have jurisdiction on the matter – he is a Scottish prisoner under licence – and the new Libyan transitional council, who are the new duly constituted legal authority in Libya.

"We have never had and do not have any intention of asking for the extradition of Mr Megrahi. It's quite clear from the Libyan transitional council that following their own laws they had never any intention of agreeing to such extradition."

Mr Salmond dismissed the suggestion that Megrahi could be questioned further about the bombing, saying: "You've seen the CNN pictures as I have. I think the idea that he would be available for interview in any recognisable form is pretty far-fetched ... Mr Megrahi remains a sick man, dying of prostate cancer."

Mr Salmond said that the investigation into the bombing remained open as it had been for the past 20 years and could be helped by the regime change in Libya. "There are matters that still could be progressed on the Lockerbie bombing. The Scottish Crown Office have made it clear that if any other evidence emerges, any other people are available to give evidence, or any other indictments are possible, that they stand ready to follow these leads."

John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, persisted with the argument for extraditing Megrahi to the US. "Personally, I think the United States made a mistake in agreeing that he be tried under Scottish law, which doesn't provide for the death penalty," Mr Bolton said.

"I don't much think of what the Scottish government thinks. I think the United States should insist that Megrahi be tried in the United States and face trial here."

Timeline

December 1988

Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes over Lockerbie. The 259 people on board the Boeing 747 are killed, as well as 11 on the ground.

November 1991

US and British investigators indict Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifa Fhimah on 270 counts of murder, accusing them of being Libyan intelligence agents.

April 1992

The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on weapons sales and air travel after Libya refuses to meet a 15 April deadline.

August 1998

Libya agrees to the two facing trial at a court in the Netherlands.

May 2000

The trial of the two begins, amid a large security operation.

January 2001

Megrahi is found guilty and jailed for a minimum of 20 years. Fhimah is found not guilty.

March 2002

Megrahi loses an appeal, heard by five Scottish judges.

August 2003

The families of the victims agree a compensation package with the Libyan government of £1.7bn.

August 2009

Megrahi is released after doctors say he has cancer and has only three months to live.

August 2011

Megrahi's brother is reported as saying that Megrahi is in a coma. Scottish government officials say his "condition is consistent with terminal cancer".

Salmond In Firing Line Over Trams Inquiry

First Minister Alex Salmond has been accused of “dragging his feet” over a public inquiry into the controversial Edinburgh trams project.














Last week councillors threw out a proposal to borrow an extra £231million to extend the line to St Andrew Square, meaning trams will now run only from Edinburgh Airport to Haymarket.

Kezia Dugdale, Labour MSP for Lothians, said Salmond had stated in a letter the inquiry would not be started while council discussions were continuing about the future of the project.

She said it was now time to “stop the blame game” and get the inquiry up and running without delay. She added: “A full, independent public inquiry is the only way we can find out exactly how the tram project has been allowed to go so badly wrong.”

However, a spokesman for the First Minister said the Scottish Government would be delighted to have a public inquiry, once there is “greater clarity” about the direction of the project.

The spokesman added: “Labour played politics by ganging up with the Tories and LibDems to force it through in 2007 against the SNP Government’s wishes and, along with the Tories, Labour again played politics to sabotage the LibDems at the council meeting last week.

“No doubt these activities will all be of interest to the inquiry.”