SCOTLAND’S Conservatives are “on course” to return their largest number of MSPs in May’s Holyrood elections, Ruth Davidson has claimed.
The party leader also used a fringe conference speech to accuse the SNP Government of “cronyism and incompetence” and to announce a plan to give 60,000 carers in Scotland a £600 a year payrise.
Ms Davidson, who again this year will be the “warm-up act” before David Cameron’s keynote speech on Wednesday, insisted - given the Scottish Labour leadership’s recent announcement to allow its frontbenchers to campaign for or against independence in any second referendum – that the Tories were now the only true Unionist party in Scotland.
When asked – given the number of Tory MSPs had fallen since 1999 and the party had only managed to return just one MP since 2001 – why she believed her party was on course for greater success next May when the No victory in the referendum did not lead to a Conservative bounce at the General Election, Ms Davidson replied: “I don't make predictions at elections; I never have. I've never been drawn on the numbers of seats we will have but I have made a prediction on this one.
"I believe we are on course for returning the largest number of MSPs since devolution began; that is the challenge I have laid down to my candidates."
Asked if the Tories can overhaul Labour in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Davidson replied: "That's not what I want to measure the party against going into this election."
Then she quipped: "I have no control over what happens to the Scottish Labour Party; the Scottish Labour Party appear to have no control over what happens to the Scottish Labour Party."
Ms Davidson noted how around a quarter of her supporters had voted tactically in May but said the list system for Holyrood would allow the party to maximise its support in 2016.
She decried Nicola Sturgeon’s talk of a second referendum, which, the Scottish Tory leader insisted was adding to the “fears of employers in Scotland”, who were saying the constant speculation was damaging their ability to expand.
“Nicola Sturgeon needs to remember she isn’t the First Minister for the SNP, she’s First Minister of Scotland. And Scotland wants to get on,” she declared.
Ms Davidson accused the SNP administration of being “increasingly defined by cronyism and incompetence” that involved cosy meetings secured by ex-advisers now paid by private companies to secure state aid for already profitable ventures and SNP supporters seeing their donations returned ten-fold in government loans as well as policing in chaos and reforms to universities, child law and the rural economy “all with the SNP imprint of central control and illiberal state oversight”.
Referring also to the row over MP Michelle Thomson’s business dealings, she noted how the build-up of policy failures meant there had been a “crack in the patina” in the Sturgeon government’s “Teflon inevitability”.
Meantime, the party leader proposed an increase in the Carer's Allowance; one of the new benefits that will soon become the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.
The allowance is currently £62 a week but Ms Davidson said she wanted it to be at least the same as the £73 a week Jobseeker's Allowance, which would result in an extra £600 a year in support for carers.
"Nobody becomes a full-time carer because of money; they do it out of love,” she explained. “But as well as our recognition and our thanks, they deserve a little extra help and I want to make sure they get it.
"That's the kind of practical plan I want to champion at this election and I look forward to the day when we can finally start debating issues like this in Holyrood. I look forward to some grown-up politics,” Ms Davidson added.
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