Tory peer David Frost proves the Conservative Right has given up trying to persuade Scots
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Lord Frost attacked the SNP
Tory peer Lord Frosts call for the Tory Government to reverse devolution is the clearest sign yet of muscular unionism.
According to this right wing worldview, the Conservatives have been too soft on the SNP and need to be more aggressive.
Frosts support for rolling back Holyroods powers is akin to grabbing the Scottish Parliament by the throat and squeezing the life out of devolution.
It is also the logical conclusion of Tory Government policy going back to the Boris Johnson era.
At that point Conservative Ministers started to fund councils directly - a two finger salute to MSPs.
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It also looks like the deposit return scheme - even if it comes back next year in an improved form - will struggle to receive the legal exemptions required by the Tories.
The leap from styming devolution to clawing back powers is small and should make every MSP wary.
But the problem for the Tories is the Parliament is an established part of Scottish society.
Voters backed devolution overwhelmingly in a referendum in 1997 and the political centre of gravity is for more powers, not fewer.
Around 80% of Scots vote for parties that support either independence or devolution. The devo-abolitionists are cranks on the margins.
Frosts diatribe, far from reflecting a groundswell of opinion, is a frustrated cry from a wing of the Tory party that has given up on Scotland.
The oddballs who insist he is talking sense are only speaking to one section of the Tory core vote, unable to reach out beyond true believers.
The Scottish Tories cast themselves into the wilderness when they campaigned for a double No vote in the devolution referendum.
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Friday, April 21, 2023 at 3:30 am