DOUGLAS Ross has claimed that a re-elected SNP Government would “drag Scotland down” by focusing on an independence referendum rather than domestic priorities.
But the SNP has accused the Tories of "hypocrisy" -pointing to the Conservative UK Government's austerity policies and Brexit.
Analysis by the Scottish Conservatives has alleged that another five years of Nicola Sturgeon pushing for another referendum could result in 2,000 annual drug deaths, record high violent crime figures and record low PISA school scores, all based on current trends.
The research by the Conservatives claims that since Ms Sturgeon became First Minister, annual drug deaths have increased by 130 each year - with the trend pointing to 2,174 deaths a year by 2026.
The party has analysed violent crime increasing from 6,272 incident in 2014/15 to 9,316 in 2019/20 - warning if the trend continues it could reach more than 15,000 by 2025/26, the highest level since 2003/4.
But the crime statitstics for 2019/20 show that a slight annual increase in violent crime is attributed to crimes being recorded under new domestic abuse legislation introduced in 2019.
Since 2002/3, there has been a 42% reduction in non-sexual violent crimes in Scotland.
At last week’s STV debate, the First Minister admitted her government "took our eye off the ball” on Scotland’s record drug deaths rate – now the worst in Europe.
Today The Scottish Tory leader will launch an ad van campaign to highlight the damage from the SNP taking their ‘eye off the ball’ again, after their manifesto confirmed they will seek another referendum, but not until the pandemic is dealt with.
READ MORE: Tories announce 'right to rehab' plans to end Scotland's spiralling drugs deaths
The ad van, showing the SNP leader fixated on Indyref2 at the expense of every domestic issue, will be launched in Ms Sturgeon’s own constituency, outside a drug rehab centre that closed on her watch in 2019.
Mr Ross said: “Every time Nicola Sturgeon pushes for another independence referendum and takes her eye off the ball, Scotland suffers.
“She will drag Scotland down and wreck our recovery from Covid if the SNP win a majority because her eyes will only be focused on independence.
“We’ve seen what happens when she takes her eye off the ball.
“Drug deaths have doubled on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch to the worst in Europe. When she’s pushing for another referendum, her eye will be off the ball again and we won’t be able to fix the broken system.
“Our schools have hit record lows in international league tables under the SNP. If the focus is on another referendum again, the current trend would see Scotland fall behind Spain, Hungary and Lithuania.
READ MORE: National Care Service a 'top priority' for SNP Government
“Violent crime has increased every year that Nicola Sturgeon has been First Minister. It will hit record 22-year highs if she’s allowed to spend the next five years pushing for another referendum.”
He added: “An SNP majority hell-bent on another independence referendum would wreak havoc in our communities. The damage from five more years of distraction would be devastating.
“Scotland has a choice of two futures – we can focus on rebuilding Scotland or on another divisive referendum.
“With their peach party list ballot, pro-UK voters have the power to stop an SNP majority, stop their plans for another referendum, and stop them taking their eye off the ball on jobs, schools, drug deaths and every other key issue.”
The SNP's depute leader, Keith Brown, has criticised the Conservatives over double standards.
He said: "The hypocrisy from Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tories here is astonishing.
When it comes to Scotland the Tories have never had their eye on the ball, having dragged us out of the EU against our will and imposed a decade of austerity - with plans for further welfare and health cuts.
"And it remains to be seen how Douglas Ross proposes to properly stand up for the people of Scotland with three jobs.
"He has already missed a key Covid lockdown party leaders' summit and a debate and vote on Universal Credit to officiate football matches - and he missed the fact that Scotland has record low crime under the SNP and that last year Scotland saw more school leavers than ever before go to university."
READ MORE: STUC backs Indyref2 if pro-independence majority elected
Mr Brown added: "In stark contrast, Nicola Sturgeon has been fully focussed on leading the country through the global health pandemic, leading months of daily Covid briefings - even though the UK Government chose to stop them - and pushing for vital COBRA meetings. The SNP has always been clear that tackling Covid is the priority.
"We are also clear that gaining independence is key to securing a strong recovery for Scotland, which is why, if a majority for independence is returned to Holyrood, we will hold an independence referendum once the covid crisis is behind us.
"We will also invest £250 million over the next five years to support our dedicated drugs minister in increasing community-based interventions, as well as quicker access to treatment and expansion."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel