Scotland 'not on Cameron's radar'

Published on Saturday 18 September 2010 17:12

SCOTLAND is "not even remotely" on David Cameron's "radar screen" and the Prime Minister appears content to leave the running of the country to the coalition government's junior partners, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has claimed.

• David Cameron with Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie Pic: PA

In comments which suggest that the Conservative Prime minister has effectively given up on Scotland, Tavish Scott claimed Cameron had all but handed the country over to the Lib Dems.

In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, Scott said the Liberal Democrats would grasp the chance to represent Scotland at Westminster through the party's Scottish Secretary Michael Moore.

In what would appear to be an attempt to distance the Scottish Lib Dems from a Tory Party that is still deeply unpopular north of the Border, Scott said he suspected that Cameron "didn't even think about Scotland". Scott added: "I suspect that he (Cameron] doesn't even think about Scotland. It is not even remotely on his radar screen. He has a Scottish Secretary (Moore] and that's that.

"The opportunity for us in that sense is for Michael Moore to be absolutely Scotland's man in the UK Cabinet… He then plays a very constructive role on Scotland's behalf in making sure the UK government is absolutely alive to Scotland's needs. That's an opportunity for Michael and our party and we've got to grasp it."

By questioning the Prime Minister's commitment to Scotland on the eve of his speech to the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool, Scott risks irritating the Conservative hierarchy.

His remarks could also cause discomfort in his own party, coming as the Lib Dem peer Baroness Walmsey opened the conference with a plea for unity and a call for her colleagues to show "respect" for their Tory coalition partners.

They could also be seen as an attempt to open up a divide between the Scottish Lib Dems and the Tories in the aftermath of a General Election result that saw Scott's party return 11 Scottish MPs compared with the solitary Conservative member. The lack of a Tory mandate saw Cameron promise to rule Scotland with respect.

Last night, a Conservative Party spokesman said: "David Cameron promised to come to Scotland within seven days of him becoming Prime Minister. He actually came within 24 hours and that speaks volumes about his commitment to the whole of the UK."

Commentators have predicted that the Lib Dem partnership with the Tories will harm Scott's party's chances at next year's Scottish elections. Scott admitted that he was unsure how the coalition deal would play at the polls.

"I just don't know," he said. "Conventional wisdom in the media is that we get hammered because we are in a toxic coalition with London. I don't know if the Tory brand is still so toxic as conventional wisdom would believe it to be. That's kind of for the Tories to worry about - not for me.