Forsyth backs Brown's defence of the Union

Published on Sunday 15 April 2007 01:25

ONE of Margaret Thatcher's key lieutenants has issued his surprise backing for Chancellor Gordon Brown in the fight against the SNP, in a remarkable sign of growing Unionist fears about the Nationalists' march on power.

Lord Forsyth, the last Tory Scottish secretary, and a vehement right-winger, said his party should "support" Brown in his bid to see off the SNP.

"Nobody is more anti-Labour than I am, but Brown is well-placed to spell out the financial consequences of separatism," he said.

He added: "We should support him in doing that, because if people want to embrace the SNP they should do it with their eyes wide open and in full knowledge of the catastrophic consequences it would have for our economy and our public services in Scotland."

Lord Forsyth's intervention in the campaign will be seen as a clear snub to party leader David Cameron, who last week said Brown's "scare-mongering" over the costs of independence was turning people off. Cameron said Scotland could become independent, but said Unionist parties needed to make a positive case for the UK.

Cameron warned: "The wrong response, often reflected in the rhetoric of Gordon Brown, is to try to bully Scotland into remaining part of the UK through fear of the economic consequences of going it alone."

But it will also be viewed as a sign of the mounting concern among Unionist politicians about the SNP which, according to the polls, is heading for victory in May's election.

Forsyth claimed that Brown's analysis of the economic dangers presented by Alex Salmond's party was a vital contribution to opening voters' eyes to the choices before them.

He said: "That's not to say that the Chancellor and the Labour party have got everything right, but they are right about the economic and financial impact of breaking up the United Kingdom."

Forsyth added: "It would be sad if people rush into expressing their view on the present administration's performance without a clear view of what they are letting themselves in for."

He also mirrored comments made by Tony Blair last week, claiming the SNP was benefiting from voters treating the Holyrood poll as "a big by-election".

But Forsyth, who was Scottish Secretary from 1995 to 1997, when the Tories were swept out of office by a Labour party promising a devolution settlement that would revive Scotland, insisted that many of the government's problems in this year's elections were of its own making.

He added: "This is exactly what we said would happen. We said that the Scottish parliament would create a problem at Westminster for Scottish MPs, that it would be expensive and that it would have the effect of marginalising Scotland.

"George Robertson said that devolution would kill nationalism, but it seems to have made it stronger and caused problems on both sides of the Border.

"If people want to punish the Labour administration in Westminster or the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition at Holyrood, they can kick them by voting for the Unionist parties, rather than one which wants to see the break-up of the UK."