CommonSpace columnist Siobhan Tolland is convinced Scotland will reject the Tories in the snap General Election
IF you could think of one image of Ruth Davidson it is very likely to be all that pouty outrage that she expresses at every turn: in parliament, in debates, on TV couches. It’s all aghast with accusations of “disingenuous” and how terrible it is and how that is just not true and how she has the information there that proves it isn’t.
For those not acquainted with Tory Philosophy you might find yourself being mightily impressed by her impassioned defence of whatever it is she is defending. Remember the Brexit debate when she debated for her life as she defended the single market to the hilt and called Boris Johnson disingenuous and said how terrible it all was that we might leave the EU?
She was a wee star, so she was.
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And then, of course, as everyone knows, she suddenly became the most popular politician in Scotland. It’s true, because mainstream media told us this. More popular than a bacon sandwich and a can of Irn Bru on a Sunday morning after a night in the pub, so she was.
Wee Roothie’s image is all mangled now though, isn’t it? It looks like Theresa May has thrown Ruth on the tracks to save herself from a pack of hungry hyenas. Or is the pack of hyenas busy ripping apart those poor women subject to the rape clause?
Here is Ruth, who has spent years building a reputation that she was the caring side of Tory; the reasonable, the rational, modern Tory. She has single-handedly rebranded the Tories from their toxic label. She came riding in on a large bull (or tank) in a blaze of unionist glory in an attempt to save Scotland from itself. I am sure the Tories thought us Scots were covering her path in palm leaves every time she left the house.
That façade has slipped fast though, hasn’t it? Ruth’s brand of Toryism is breaking out all over the place as she U-turns on Brexit and gains a sudden love for leaving the single market.
The true nature of Scottish Toryism was revealed very clearly last week when she shamefully came out in support of the appalling tax credits rape clause. Scottish Toryism lays itself bare as nothing more than Westminster Toryism in all its vile inhumanity.
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After her week of silence it turns out that the Tories can actually defend the indefensible. It’s the SNP’s fault! They should clear up the mess. It’s like stabbing someone in the heart and blaming the doctor for not properly resuscitating them.
Ruth Davidson goes into hiding for a week and all her PR team can come up with is the big clichéd, “look! A bogeyman!” strategy. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so disgusting.
Come on Ruth! Where’s all that outrage you are so good at?
So after all these revelations about how scummy the Scottish Tories really are, what do we get? We get leaflets through our door telling us to vote Tory to show the SNP we don’t want a referendum. It’s us or independence, they are telling us.
And now we get a snap General Election. It’s not the time for Scotland to have a referendum, it seems, but it is time for more Tory rule in England. That’s how it works.
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But it’s brought our choices into sharp relief now, hasn’t it. I mean, the SNP was trying to avoid the locals being a fight between Tories and independence but this becomes difficult to avoid in a General Election.
But, here is the point. The Tories have pushed Scotland into making a choice between a Tory union or independence. To this I only have three words: Bring it on!
The Tories are toxic in Scotland. They have been since Thatcher. That little blip in elections that saw them nudge up ahead of Labour seems to have made them think they are the new second coming. This is what happens when you begin to believe your own PR machine.
And the choice they have given us is the Tories or independence. Let me see … a UK where the state batters vulnerable and traumatised women over the head and then pretends it wisna’ them! Or an independent Scotland that, well, doesn’t batter vulnerable women over the head.
There is no choice in this, then, because there is one thing I know about Scots: we would rather fall into a pit of rapid zombies than vote Tory. We will not now, not ever, give this Tory government our support, and if the Tories pitch themselves as the only defenders of the union then people will ask if the union is worth saving.
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So here is my message to the Conservative and Unionist Party: and to Ruth Davidson: back the hell off our women. Back the hell off our unemployed and our disabled. And back the hell off all our vulnerable people you are attacking through your austerity agenda. We will use the General Election to give you this message loud and clear.
And if you think, for one second, you can promote your Conservativism as the only alternative to independence then you have no idea what you are doing. because if you promote a straight choice between a Tory UK and an independent Scotland then I will guarantee you this: independence will win.
Every single time.
Picture courtesy of the Scottish Parliament
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