RUTH DAVIDSON brilliantly explained why the SNP have “no mandate and no reason” to hold a second independence referendum if Scotland is taken out of the EU against its will, in a throwback interview.
At the end of last month, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sent documents to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, outlining her case for Indyref2, arguing that she now has an “unarguable” mandate after the SNP won 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats in the December 12 general election. However, yesterday, the Government formally rejected her call. Mr Johnson said a referendum would "continue the political stagnation Scotland has seen for the past decade", and noted that the First Minister had previously pledged that the 2014 referendum would be a "once in a generation" vote.
In response, Ms Sturgeon tweeted that the Tories were attempting to "deny democracy" and campaigners are now aiming to raise £50,000 to launch a legal challenge against the Government.
As fears the union could unravel intensify, a 2016 report by The Telegraph has resurfaced, in which former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson brilliantly explains why the SNP have no mandate and no reason to hold a second independence referendum.
Rejecting Ms Sturgeon's claim that Brexit would justify another vote on the break-up of Britain, Ms Davidson said: "There is no mandate for the SNP to say that Brexit is the trigger."There is no reason.
“She says this is a material change, but if you flip that the other way, if Scotland voted Yes in 2014, would I have been able to say let’s have another referendum because the oil price tanked, because that’s a material change?
“No.
"There was an agreement that was signed by two governments that said we will respect the result of the referendum.
"To say they are going to re-run a second one is not respecting that.”
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, also told The Telegraph at the time that the last thing Scotland needed was a First Minister who spent “the next five years campaigning for independence and poring over the runes to decide what constitutes a change in circumstances while public services decline".
He added: “We need a transformational investment to make our education system the best in the world again.
"A step change in the way we treat mental health and urgent action to meet our green targets.”
Mr Rennie's claims were echoed by Mr Johnson his morning during Prime Minister's Questions.
After being accused of being a "democracy denier" by the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford, Mr Johnson rebuked: "Scotland under the SNP is the highest-taxed part of the UK.
"The deficit is six times the UK average.
"Maths and science in schools are actually going down in the rankings unlike any other part of the United Kingdom.
"That is not the fault of the pupils of Scotland, it's the fault of the SNP Government who are not giving them the chances they deserve because they are focused on breaking up the union.
"Change the record."
