Conservative manifesto '˜will be bursting with ideas,' vows Davidson

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has pledged to unveil a manifesto 'bursting with ideas' following internal party allegations she has not presented any detailed policies.

Ruth Davidson with rivals Nicola Sturgeon and Kezia Dugdale

Jim Terras, chairman of the Selkirk Conservative and Unionist Club, has called for “policies or a detailed manifesto” and said Ms Davidson’s performance in the first televised election debate last week was “very poor”.

Ms Davidson rebuffed claims that her party has been silent on policy, insisting she has pledged to build 100,000 new homes, hand colleges £60 million, reform education from pre-school to post-secondary, reform Police Scotland and the courts, address the “target culture” in the NHS and invest in roads and digital infrastructure.

She said: “Maybe Jim doesn’t read the papers but I can’t say that we haven’t been putting a lot of ideas out there. We will have a full manifesto bursting with ideas. We have been the only people holding the government to account on some of this stuff for months.”

She added: “A manifesto is all about policies and ideas, and that is exactly what ours is going to be as it has been at every other election.”

The Edinburgh Central candidate visited Little Learners Nursery in the city to support Save the Children’s Read On, Get On campaign and outline her education policies.