Ruth Davidson unveiled the Scottish Conservative plan to ‘lead a strong opposition to the SNP’ as the party launched their manifesto in Glasgow last week, attended by local candidate for Cunninghame North, Jamie Greene.
In the party’s 2016 manifesto, Ruth declares she is “applying for the job” of leader of the opposition. In the foreword, she writes: “As much as I would like to imagine myself First Minister in a few weeks’ time, with my new cabinet around me, I know that this is not the job the majority of Scots have in mind for me.”
“There is an important vacancy in Scottish politics that I, along with my team, are best placed to fill. And that is the vacancy for a strong opposition.”
Unveiling her priorities for action as the party’s lead opposition party, she announces plans to launch fresh drive on the positive case for the Union, to counter the SNP’s plan for a campaign on independence.
Speaking at the launch, Ruth told party delegates and media:
“Too often over recent years, our case for the Union has simply been a matter of picking at the flaws of independence. Of dissecting the numbers, rubbishing the projections or disputing proposals. Too often we have failed to make the case for why our family of nations works. And the legacy from the referendum is that we on the pro-UK side have allowed ‘No thanks’ to be seen as a constant negative.
“If we are to counter the SNP’s mis-information, this must change. The case for independence is dead. The case for the Union must now be made.”
She also unveiled the party’s 10-point ‘programme for opposition’ – setting out the areas in which the party will challenge the SNP and urge change.
Speaking after the launch, Jamie Greene said “I was proud to be at the launch of our manifesto launch and represent the North Ayrshire Conservative Association. I am fully behind Ruth’s view that Scotland needs a strong opposition in Holyrood. With just a few weeks to go, we have laid our plans for Scotland on the table for the voters to decide.”
Included in the 10-point priorities, the Conservatives promise:
1. Creating a “transformational” plan to invest more in mental health services within the NHS.
2. Investing in a new Crisis Family fund to replace the discredited Named Persons law.
3. Campaigning for competitive income tax rates, with evidence provided by a new shadow Council of Economic Advisers.
4. Backing vocational education, and urging the SNP to reverse college cuts.
5. Empowering school leaders so they have more control over their budgets and curriculum.
6. Making childcare more flexible, and handed more hours for disadvantaged children aged 1 and 2.
7. Halving the disability employment gap, so that disabled people have the chance to work if they wish.
8. Tackling anti-social behaviour and focussing on rehabilitation in prisons.
9. Building 100,000 new homes and rebuilding empty properties.
10. Investing more in energy efficiency so that ‘every home is a warm home’.