SNP don’t trust people and want to take power, not devolve it, Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat claims

The SNP don’t trust the people of Scotland and want to take power, not devolve it, Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat has claimed.

Speaking exclusively to The Scotsman, Mr Tugendhat also suggested separatism was about “tearing down the work of centuries” for politicians he claimed had failed and were indulging their egos, rather than delivering.

Making his pitch to be leader, the shadow security minister promised his Tory party would listen more to individual communities. It comes as Scottish MSPs Meghan Gallacher, Brian Whittle and Alexander Stewart announced they were backing the shadow security minister, bringing his total MSP support to 11.

Euan Cherry / Parsons Media

Mr Tugendhat said: “The SNP don't really trust the Scottish people. What they want to do is not devolve power, but take it. They want to take it from Aberdeen, take it from Glasgow, take it from [the] Highlands and Islands and take it from the rural communities and centralise it in Holyrood.

“That's not nationalism, it's separatism, and all it does is divide. What they need to do is listen to people. What we all need to do is listen to the community because the truth is I'm driving now through the Borders, and if you think it's the same as Glasgow, if you think the Central Belt is the same as the North East, you need to get out more.

“All I hear from the SNP is constitutional game playing where they're trying to replicate being the government in Westminster, whether that's on foreign affairs or on various different definitions they're making. And the truth is they need to get on with what they should be doing. Stop nationalist navel gazing, and deliver for Scotland.

“What we've seen in Scotland, I'm afraid is not devolution, it’s nationalism. What they've been doing is they've been centralising power in Edinburgh, but not seeing what works and you can see this by the pattern of failure. To many people in Glasgow or Aberdeen or Inverness, Holyrood can feel just as far, if not in many cases further away than Westminster, and we need to make sure that real devolution happens.”

Mr Tugendhat also accused SNP politicians of putting themselves before their constituents.

The Tonbridge MP said: “When I hear about the division and separatism that some people are trying to bring to our country, the one thing that always strikes me is they're trying to tear apart the work of centuries, for the narrow ambition of failed politicians who frankly don't understand that their job is to deliver for the people they represent, not to promote their own selves and their egos.

“I see this when I hear SNP politicians playing politics in foreign affairs, rather than delivering on hospitals and schools. The truth is that when I see failure in Scotland, it hurts me the same as when I see failure in London, or Manchester or Birmingham, or Cardiff or Northern Ireland. It costs us all because in order for Britain to succeed, we need to have Scotland succeeding. We need Wales to succeed. We need England to succeed. We need Northern Ireland.”

Euan Cherry / Parsons Media

Expanding on his passion for the Union, Mr Tugendhat referenced his experiences in the military, having risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after ten years of service.

He said: “I'm a unionist because I've seen it work, I've seen it in action as a soldier. I fought alongside men and women from across these islands and I can tell you, there's so much more in common that brings us together. We share so many dreams, so many hopes. Are you telling me honestly that when athletes won in Paris only a few weeks ago, we were narrow and small-minded enough to say ‘no that's a Scottish medal or that's an English medal?’ No - we celebrated those medals for the United Kingdom. When I was a soldier, I buried a friend of mine just outside, Dunblane. Are you telling me I buried him in a foreign field? I didn't. I buried him at home. And I was at home when I was there with him.”

Speaking in a week in which figures were published showing an annual 12 per cent rise in drug deaths in Scotland last year, Mr Tugendhat also criticised the Scottish Government’s approach to the crisis.

He said: “I think the Scottish Tories Right to Recovery Bill is a really important indicator on this. The SNP made the argument that they wanted to have shooting galleries, and the government in Westminster didn't block it. But I'm afraid the record is not a good one. 

“The reality is that they haven't been there, they haven't been focused on recovery, they haven't been focused on the ability to help people in those brief windows when people who are dependent on drugs are sometimes open to help and that's what we need to be championing.”

Asked what success looked like for the Holyrood campaign, Mr Tugendhat expressed his gratitude to the growing number of Scottish MSPs who had supported him, and put it down to his frequent visits to Scotland.

He did not endorse a single candidate for the Scottish Tory leadership, which is being contested by Ms Gallacher, as well as fellow MSPs Murdo Fraser and Russell Findlay. But he said: “I don't know who the Scottish members are going to choose, but whoever they choose, I know that we're going to work really well together, and I'll be the first to congratulate them because it's a huge honour to lead our party, whether it's in Scotland or across the whole of the United Kingdom.”

The SNP accused Mr Tugendhat of “rank hypocrisy”.

Stuart McMillan MSP said: "Scotland will take no lectures from a Tory party which crashed the economy, forced us out of the EU against our will and denied Scottish voters a democratic say on our future.

"To accuse the SNP of centralising power is rank hypocrisy from the party which continually tried to grab power back to Westminster with undemocratic attacks on devolution attempting to erode the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

"The people of Scotland trust the SNP to deliver. The Tories would do well to remember they are no longer in power and concentrate on resolving their internal disputes rather than proclaiming to have all the answers."