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TORY leadership favourite Liz Truss tonight claimed she would stop SNP ministers from “focusing on constitutional division” instead of people’s “priorities”.
The Foreign Secretary signalled she’d take a hard line with Nats chiefs as she prepared to debate with rival Rishi Sunak in Perth on Tuesday evening.
Liz Truss has signalled she will take a hard line with Nats chiefs over independence[/caption]
Truss will debate contender Rishi Sunak in Perth on Tuesday[/caption]
In a statement likely to provoke a backlash from the SNP, the runaway favourite to replace Boris Johnson appeared to hint at curbs on the Scottish Government’s focus on the constitution
And in another provocative move, she suggested she would bypass Scottish ministers and “work with local leaders to create new Investment Zones with special tax, planning and investment incentives to revitalise and booth growth among communities across Scotland”.
On the constitution, Ms Truss said: “For too long, people in Scotland have been let down by the SNP focusing on constitutional division instead of their priorities. That won’t happen under my watch.
“I’ll make sure that my government does everything to ensure elected representatives hold the devolved administration to account for its failure to deliver the quality public services, particularly health and education, that Scottish people deserve.”
It was unclear tonight what steps Ms Truss was planning to take – as suggested in her statement – to ensure the SNP does not “focus on constitutional division”.
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There has been pushback from some pro-union supporters in recent months over the Scottish Government spending public money and resources on the push for a second independence referendum which has not been agreed with the UK Government, unlike in 2014.
As part of her plan as PM, Ms Truss said she would bring Holyrood into line with Westminster and give MSPs parliamentary privilege, granting them greater legal immunity due to statements.
Ms Truss’s team said this would “allow them them to more stringently hold the Scottish Government to account for its record”.
They said that building on her record in her prior role as Trade Secretary, Ms Truss “would push for an end to the longstanding 150 per tariff on Scotch Whisky in India to boost exports”.
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And signalling she may intervene on a post-Brexit freeports policy brokered between Westminster and Holyrood, the statement said Ms Truss would “unlock the full potential of Scottish freeports by freeing them from Whitehall red tape, and allowing them to choose favoured sectors and incentives accordingly”.
Ms Truss’s remarks came ahead of the hustings in Perth and after she wound up Nats chiefs at a previous leadership event in England by saying Nicola Sturgeon was an “attention seeker” who was best “ignored”.
Meanwhile, leadership rival Rishi Sunak promised that top Scottish civil servants would face greater scrutiny from Westminster if he became PM, while UK ministers will be required to be more visible north of the border.
The ex chancellor also promised to enforce “consistent reporting of public service performance data across the country” so that the UK Government could hold the Scottish Government accountable for essential public service delivery.
He said: “The future of the United Kingdom is bright but our Union must work together, each nation shoulder to shoulder, to get there. We must defeat the collective challenges threatening the health of our public services.
“Under my plans the UK Government will play its part, but the same must be reciprocated by Holyrood.
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“For too long the SNP has been able to obscure its failures by picking and choosing the data it publishes – I would change that, ensuring the Scottish Government’s record could be held to account, while ensuring our public services are better joined up.
“Scottish senior civil servants will also face greater scrutiny, with the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government required to appear annually at a UK Parliament Select Committee hearing.”
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