Douglas Ross insists new Union Strategy Committee is separate operation from Scottish Tories

Douglas Ross has insisted the new Union Strategy Committee is a separate operation from the Scottish Tories.
Douglas Ross has insisted the new Union Strategy Committee is a separate operation from the Scottish Tories.Douglas Ross has insisted the new Union Strategy Committee is a separate operation from the Scottish Tories.
Douglas Ross has insisted the new Union Strategy Committee is a separate operation from the Scottish Tories.

Chaired by Boris Johnson, the new Cabinet Union Strategy Committee features not a single Scottish Conservative MP.

Tasked with setting the Government's strategic agenda" for keeping the UK together, Michael Gove and Chancellor Rishi Sunak will attend the meetings, along with the secretaries for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost.

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Launching the Scottish Tory election message, Mr Ross explained he had no problem with neither he nor Ruth Davidson being invited to attend the meetings.

He said: "With the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the key departments within the UK Government are all covered, but as before with the Union Unit going forward with this new committee I'll have regular input through Alister [Jack] and the other ministers.

“I’ll be meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday next week, and he’s keen to make sure that the open lines of communication that we’ve had throughout my leadership continue.

“It's also very separate to what we're doing here north of the border and the Prime Minister understands I'm the leader of the party here in Scotland, and I'm taking the challenge to the SNP over the next few weeks.

“It’s my party, my manifesto and my team that are going to be elected on the sixth of May.”

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It is understood while the Union Unit currently lacks a leader following the resignation of Oliver Lewis, it will still continue.

The Vote Leave veteran quit last week amid claims his position was made “untenable” by others in Number 10.

The former ally of Mr Johson had only just started the role following the exit of former Scottish Conservative MP Luke Graham earlier this month.

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Asked about the staffing problems, the Moray MP added: “You can’t hide that there has been troubles within that Union Unit, but the PM has acted decisively to then move to this cabinet committee which has worked well during the Brexit negotiations.”

The comments came during a speech where Mr Ross unveiled the Scottish Conservative campaign message that will appear on the ballot paper – “End Division. No Referendum. Rebuild Scotland.”

Mr Ross again blasted his Labour rivals for being “half-hearted” on the key issue of the constitution, as he insisted only his party could stop the SNP from having a “Covid referendum”.

He insisted that having a second vote on Scotland’s place in the UK as the country seeks to rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic would be “the wrong priority for our country”.

Mr Ross said: “I want to end the division, no more referendums, so we can focus on that recovery and rebuilding Scotland.”

The Scottish Tories leader attacked First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, saying she had announced a “full route map to a divisive independence referendum” ahead of her “partial route map” for ending the current coronavirus lockdown.

With the SNP having recently agreed to set aside £600,000 of cash to spend on a second referendum campaign, Mr Ross added: “This is not by any measure a government focusing 100 per cent on the pandemic.”

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