BORIS JOHNSON’s new Scottish Secretary offered to help finance a breakaway political party as a way of reinvigorating the Tories north of the Border.
Alister Jack, who was appointed to the Cabinet last week, enthusiastically endorsed a radical plan in 2011 to abolish the Scottish Conservatives, insisting:
“We shouldn’t be frightened of stepping out on our own.”
It comes as a growing number of Scottish Tories are warming to the idea of cutting ties with the UK party.
One of the party’s most senior figures, who opposed the plan eight years ago, told this newspaper: “We always have to amend and adapt to changed realities.”
Johnson became Prime Minister last week after comfortably defeating former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in a vote of party members.
The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip put Brexit at the heart of the contest and promised the UK would leave the European Union by October 31.
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However, Davidson, who backed a range of candidates ahead of Johnson, is believed to be anxious about the impact of a Johnson premiership on the Union.
She was angered when the PM sacked her ally David Mundell as Scottish Secretary last week and replaced him with Jack, the multi-millionaire MP for Dumfries and Galloway. Davidson is set to meet Johnson in Scotland tomorrow.
Support is growing in the upper echelons of the Scottish Tories for the party to become independent of the UK Conservatives.
Davidson opposed this plan – initially proposed by MSP Murdo Fraser – during the 2011 leadership contest, but the independence referendum and Johnson's leadership have led to some senior figures changing their minds.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal that one of the biggest supporters of the Fraser plan in 2011 was Johnson’s new Scottish Secretary.
He said at the time: “The simple thing is that everyone’s concerns about Murdo’s plans would be whether he would get enough support to get the party off the ground – seed capital if you like. For years, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party has needed someone to take the bull by the horns and tell us how to sort ourselves out. In Murdo, we have him."
Financing a new party, he added, would not be a problem: “I have spent this week in conversation with a number of other individuals from the business community who are very excited about a stronger centre-right political force that will stand up to the SNP and which will have low taxation and decentralisation at its heart.
“I have given Murdo my assurance that significant sums of money will be in place if he wins this leadership election. I’m completely confident that we can raise more money for the new party than SCUP has raised for many years.”
He concluded: “Murdo is the right man for the job. We need a business-friendly, countryside-friendly party in Scotland. We shouldn’t be frightened of stepping out on our own.”
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In a statement issued yesterday, Jack made a U-turn on his previous position: “The world has moved on since 2011 and I am very happy with the position we are now in.
“The party has made great strides both north and south of the Border and that success has come about by all of us working together under the fantastic leadership of Ruth Davidson.”
Davidson remains opposed to forming a new party. She said last week: “I have never advocated for that and I still don’t believe in it. However, I would gently point out that we are probably the most autonomous of all of the pro-Union parties in the United Kingdom. I am solely in charge of financing, of management of campaigns, candidates, of policy.
“So in terms of the role of a new PM within the Scottish Conservative Party, I think the most influence they have is they have a power of veto over the Scottish chairman.”
However, a source close to Davidson was quoted saying the leader is “aware” of support for the idea:
“Ruth is aware of this and is comfortable for that debate to happen. She’s quite relaxed about it at the moment. Nobody can say whether this will go anywhere.”
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SNP MP Pete Wishart said: "Boris Johnson's Tory government has been a total humiliation for Ruth Davidson, who no longer has any influence with her leaders at Westminster or their MPs in Scotland.
"While some Scottish Tories may boast about breaking away from Westminster and becoming independent, the truth is they will continue to obey orders from London as they always have.
"There isn't a single principle that Ruth Davidson won't sell out in order to keep her job – as we have seen with her many U-turns on Brexit. Maybe it's now only a matter of time before she faces a leadership challenge.”
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