At the Conservative party conference in Birmingham this week, the Leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland, Ruth Davidson MSP, announced that just one in eight people in Scotland contributed to society, angering SNP MSPs.
SNP MSP, Kenneth Gibson, has called on the Tory party to apologise for such comments, calling it Ms Davidson’s “Mitt Romney moment”. Mr Gibson has said that anti-independence parties such as the Tories are fast losing favour with the Scottish people, and it is therefore time to split from them.
He said:- ““At least Mitt Romney only insulted around half of Americans though, while Ruth Davidson believes almost 90 per cent of Scots do not ‘contribute’ to society. It is an outrageous slur, and Davidson should apologise to the people of Scotland.”
Ruth Davidson, in her speech, said:- “Only 12% are responsible for generating Scotland’s wealth. There are people with household incomes of £50,000 who are paying thousands – indeed – tens of thousands of pounds in taxation, and even that doesn’t cover the amount of money government spends in their name.
“This isn’t about their contribution not being enough – their contribution is huge. It’s about the state spending too much and the SNP Government refusing to have an honest debate about where that money goes.”
Mr Gibson believes the upcoming independence referendum means a vote between keeping the benefits of devolution, such as free university education and free prescriptions, or voting for Tory/Labour orchestrated cuts. He further criticised the Conservative party and said:- “It is becoming clearer by the day that the Tories and other anti-independence parties have nothing to offer Scotland, and Ruth Davidson’s comments suggest they are running scared of the momentum which is building for a Yes vote for an independent Scotland.”
Ms Davidson not only criticised the current SNP government for the constant need for “government approval and anyone who dares challenge the status quo is deemed an enemy of the state”, but also local Labour-led councils, such as in Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn. She said:- “So many Scottish communities are living with the effects of our opponents’ ideologically-driven vandalism which stretches back decades.”
As yet, no apology has been released by Ms Davidson for what is claimed to be the “slurs” in her speech, despite pressure building around the issue for her to do so.
You can view Ruth Davidson’s full speech here.