Davidson’s future was bright
but she was increasingly
at odds with the PM
R
uth Davidson’s expected
announcement today that she’s
resigning as leader of the
Scottish Tories is a bitter blow not only
to politics north of the border but to
the whole of Britain.
She will insist that her decision was
taken for family and not political
reasons and that her announcement
was planned before Boris Johnson said
he was suspending parliament. But
there will be few who do not believe
that she has lost her enthusiasm for
politics, was finding it hard to cope
with a career and motherhood – she
has a 10-month-old son – and that the
new Prime Minister’s determination
to pursue a no-deal Brexit was
anathema to her.
However, her departure is, above
all, a threat to the Unionist cause
because if she can’t be persuaded to
remain in the front rank of politics, her
departure from the forefront of the
Tories’ ranks would significantly
weaken the fight against the SNP’s
challenge to break up Britain.
Ruth Davidson wasn’t just a fresh
face and brand new talent, she broke
the mould in every sense of that
hackneyed expression.
Not for her, long years carving a
careful path for herself through the
mainly middle class structures of an
increasingly moribund Scottish
Conservative and Unionist Party.
Instead, she used a forceful
personality and first class speaking
skills – often larded with distinctlyun-Conservative expressions – to rush
upwards and onwards by spelling out
the absolute truth about who she was- in phrases that now seem almost like
clichés – a lesbian, former TA soldier,
ex-BBC trainee producer, educated at
a Fife comprehensive and one half of a
same-sex marriage.
But thanks to backing from the then
prime minister, David Cameron, and
David Mundell, then the only Scottish
Tory MP, who both saw her as
something refreshingly different and
miles away from the traditional
Conservative image, she stormed to
victory in the Scottish leadership
contest nine years ago.
Ironically, she did this by wooing
the party’s long-term members by
insisting that she wouldn’t alter their
name or break away from the UK
Conservatives, changes that were
being promised by the contest’s
favourite, Murdo Fraser.
As leader, she spoke the language
of everyday voters – championing
their worries and fears about
declining school standards and
hospital waiting times.
But, above all, she refused to be
patronised by Alex Salmond, the then
SNP leader and a vastly experienced
parliamentary debater.
She was not overawed, either, by
Labour big beasts like Gordon Brown
and Alistair Darling in the 2014
independence referendum and earned
her spurs by playing a starring role –
especially with young people – in
that victory.
However, she really shone in the
2016 Scottish election when she
denounced Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for
another referendum, picking up seats
all over Scotland and putting her party
into second place at Holyrood.
The following year the same tactics
saw her increase the number of MPs
from one to 13 in the Commons.
And there is no doubt that, had it
not been for the EU referendum result,
in which most Scots voted for Remain,
she stood a chance of emerging from
the 2021 Holyrood election as leader
of the biggest party and, possibly,
First Minister.
That dream all but died during the
three years of acrimonious Commons
debates and no matter what she says in
her announcement today there will be
little doubt in the minds of Davidson-
watchers that Boris Johnson’s
elevation to Downing Street and his
espousal of a no-deal Brexit were killer
blows for the aspirations of this
talented lady.DUP in talks to strike new deal with Tories
By Owen Bennett WHITEHALL EDITORTHE DUP has been holding prelimi-
nary talks with the Government for
weeks over a new confidence and sup-
ply deal, one of its MPs has said.
The 2017 agreement, by which the
DUP’s 10 MPs support the Government
in key Commons votes, was due to be
renegotiated within two years.
However, a lack of a Queen’s Speech
means the deal has been left in stasis,
with the DUP repeatedly voting against
Theresa May’s Brexit agreement de-spite pledging to prop up the Tories.
Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue
Parliament at the beginning of Septem-
ber means he will now have to strike a
new deal with the DUP to ensure the
Queen’s Speech is not voted down.
No 10 began laying the groundwork
as soon as Mr Johnson took charge. He
held a private dinner with Arlene Fos-
ter, the DUP leader, and Nigel Dodds,
her deputy, on July 31.
Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East
Antrim, said: “There are a number of
things we have already been talking tothe Government about, but we have
agreed we will say nothing publicly.
“[Boris Johnson] met with Arlene
and Nigel in Belfast ... there’s a good
strong relationship with his team.”
While Mr Wilson was not prepared
to discuss specific requests in the talks,
he insisted any Brexit deal must meet
his party’s red lines.
“The one thing we have been saying
is we want the commitment that when
it comes to the Withdrawal Agreement,
that Northern Ireland won’t be treated
separately to the UK,” he added.T
he Government’s announcement
that a Queen’s Speech will be
held on Oct 14 (proroguing
Parliament in the process) makes a
confidence motion now certain, a
general election more likely and is
seen as a positive move by Brexiteers.
This comes as a clear message was
sent to the heart of Westminster on
Tuesday when we announced that we
have 635 approved candidates in place
across the country. The Brexit Party
stands ready to fight the next general
election. In fact, we are more prepared
than any other party in British politics
today.
As was the case in May, when we
won the European elections so
decisively, we have selected a wide
range of men and women from all
backgrounds and from every walk of
life. They share one common purpose:
to fight for democracy. Every single
one of them is willing to put their
country ahead of any other political
ambitions or considerations.
It is heartening and humbling to
know that so many figures of this
calibre are willing to act in the
interests of the 17.4 million people who
voted for Brexit, because we need
them now more than ever.
The summer is over and with it, I
would suggest, is Boris Johnson’s brief
honeymoon period. I say this because
the new Prime Minister has been
touring Europe in recent days. Having
listened closely to his various
statements, it is apparent that he now
wants to reheat the same European
treaty which his predecessor, Theresa
May, failed to get through the House of
Commons three times. By doing so, I
think he risks stepping into very
dangerous territory.
Despite all of his previous negative
comments about Mrs May’s EU treaty
(remember his talk of the UK
becoming a “vassal state”?) Mr
Johnson seems to think that achieving
the Withdrawal Agreement without
the Irish backstop is acceptable.
Indeed, he said last week in his letter
to Donald Tusk, the president of the
European Council, that securing this
was his “highest priority”.
Yet without the backstop, this wouldbe the worst so-called deal in British
history. It would bind our nation to the
Customs Union; maintain the
jurisdiction of the EU’s courts over the
UK’s; and would fail to return to the
UK control over our own fishing
waters. It would also rule out Britain’s
ability to strike any new trade
agreements outside of the EU and
would cost taxpayers £39 billion.
I know that I am not alone in finding
Mr Johnson’s stance deeply alarming.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised,
though. It can never be said too many
times: he is the man who voted for Mrs
May’s aforementioned abysmal treaty
at the third time of asking, back in
March, despite having exerted
considerable energy criticising it. He
can hardly be called consistent.
If Mr Johnson does choose to sellout his own people by consigning
Britain to such a position of weakness,
the Brexit Party would have no choice
but to fight him in every seat at the
next national poll. If, however, he is
brave enough to do the right thing and
go for a clean-break Brexit, we would
put country before party and would
help him. Indeed, the Brexit Party
would be happy to make him a hero.
The European elections proved that
the two major political parties can no
longer assume their traditional vote
will turn out in sufficient numbers
every time. In the case of Labour, a big
chunk of its supporters have no faith
in its position on Brexit because of
Jeremy Corbyn. His rambling
performance on this key issue of our
times has been a shameful betrayal of
the five million Labourites who
backed Leave in 2016. The Brexit Party
will target the many Leave-voting
seats held by Remain Labour MPs. As
the Tories know very well, their party
would have no hope in these seats. But
the Brexit Party has every chance, as
the European elections showed.
The Conservatives themselves have
lost a considerable amount of public
trust in recent years. It is clear the only
way they could possibly win a general
election outright is with external
backing of some kind. In the current
environment, they can only rely on the
support of one other major party,
namely the Brexit Party.
It is up to the Prime Minister. If he
wants to be returned to No 10, he
knows the surest way of succeeding is
to cooperate. Not for the first time in
recent weeks, I find myself asking:
does he have the courage to do the
right thing?^Nigel Farage is leader of the Brexit PartyIf Johnson has courage to make a
clean break, I will make him a hero
Nigel Faragerage
‘He now wants to reheat the
same treaty which Theresa
May failed to get through
the Commons three times’ERIC PIERMONT/AFP; FRANCOIS LENOIR/REUTERSAlan Cochranennne
Ruth Davidson is expected to say family
reasons are behind her resignation todayGETTY IMAGESThe Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 *** 7
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