AROUND a third of Ruth Davidson’s MSPs disagree with her over Europe and are ready to vote for Brexit, the Sunday Herald understands.
The Scottish Tory leader gave her wholehearted backing to a Remain vote last year.
“To me the cost benefit analysis is clear. The advantages we gain from EU membership clearly and categorically outweigh any disadvantages that come with it,” she said in September.
“I campaigned for Scotland to stay part of a wider Union. I believe Britain should stay part of a wider Union too.”
However party sources estimate around 10 of the 31-strong Tory opposition at Holyrood are unconvinced by Davidson’s arguments ahead of the June 23 vote.
In the last parliament, only one MSP Margaret Mitchell was openly for Brexit.
However the arrival of 24 new Tories has seen a surge in the number of Eurosceptics.
North East MSP Ross Thomson declared his opposition to the EU in March in an article on his website titled “Why I will Vote to Leave the EU in June”.
He said Europe was a club “we should not be part of”, explaining: “Outwith the EU I believe Britain will be freer and fairer, able to reassert its national sovereignty.”
Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Alexander Stewart last month took part in an event called “The case for leaving the EU” and Central Scotland MSP Graham Simpson said last week he was for Brexit.
“I’ll be voting to leave,” Simpson said. “It’s a democracy thing – it’s an undemocratic institution. "
West of Scotland MSPs Maurice Golden and Jamie Greene are described by party insiders as “on the fence” and Central Scotland list MSP Alison Harris said she was yet to decide.
She told the Sunday Herald: “Europe needs reformed. I have an issue as to why they can dictate what kind of kettle I can buy and the fact that they’re dictating my lightbulbs.” Another four Tory MSPs are understood to be tilting towards Out.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell last week acknowledged the divisions at Holyrood, saying: “The Conservative party in Scotland is not frightened to hide the fact that there are different views. Indeed, there are different views across Scotland.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel