RUTH Davidson will today attempt to build on her party’s momentum in the local elections by effectively asking people to use June 8 as a protest vote to "bring the SNP down to size”.
The Scottish Conservative leader will launch her party’s General Election campaign by urging the electorate to show an “all-powerful SNP” they “can’t take Scotland for granted”.
A month from polling day, Nicola Sturgeon will also warn the Tories are preparing to “sacrifice” thousands of Scottish jobs by pursuing a hard Brexit in order to win back Ukip voters.
"The Tory mask has slipped," the First Minister said yesterday, as she warned of a "chaotic Brexit" unless the next Conservative government was reined in at Westminster.
Read more: Salmond predicts Tory boasts of a win Gordon will backfire
The SNP won last week’s local elections, increasing their councillors by six to 431, however the Scottish Tories narrowly pushed Labour into third place by adding 161 to end on 276, their strongest result in more than 40 years.
The party also outpolled the SNP in key Westminster targets seats, including Moray, held by SNP deputy Angus Robertson, and Gordon, held by former First Minister Alex Salmond.
Ms Davidson will say: “We have a massive fight on our hands against an all-powerful SNP.
"We go into this election with one seat. They go into with 54 – most with large majorities.
"Even to challenge the Nationalists in some of these seats is going to take a Herculean effort.
"Make no mistake – we are the underdogs going into this campaign.
"But we also know this. The SNP is not Scotland. And people across this country don't take kindly to Nicola Sturgeon pretending the opposite is true.
"Our challenge is to bring the SNP down to size. To show they can’t take Scotland for granted. To show that we, the Scottish Conservatives, can lead Scotland’s fightback against the SNP."
Read more: SNP to spearhead national councils body for first time as cuts rows loom
The advance extract of her speech did not refer to independence or a referendum, suggesting an attempt to broaden and simplify her party’s message beyond the constitution, although she will return to the theme in Edinburgh today.
Ms Sturgeon said that without a strong contingent of SNP MPs, Theresa May would feel she had a free hand to negotiate any Brexit deal - or none - no matter what the cost.
She said: “There is now no doubt - the Tories will sacrifice Scotland’s interests and jobs because they’re far more concerned about winning votes from Ukip.
“Even those who voted to Leave the EU should be concerned about the consequences of a hard Brexit that puts winning the votes of Ukip ahead of Scottish jobs.
“The difference between the Tories and the SNP couldn’t be clearer. They want to pick fights with Europe. The SNP will fight to protect the interests of the people of Scotland.
“The Tories seem to want to silence Scotland’s democratic voice.
“They ignored the overwhelming result of the EU referendum in Scotland.
“The evidence is mounting that the Tories are starting to believe they can do anything and get away with it. Labour is collapsing but the SNP is dedicated to standing up for Scotland.”
Read more: McDonnell promises tax freeze for those earning below £80,000
In other developments:
* Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said Labour wanted “modest” tax hikes on the 5 per cent of people earning more than £80,000, but a tax freeze for those earning less
* Home Secretary Amber Rudd refused to say if the Tory manifesto would repeat a 2015 vow to cut immigration to “tens of thousands", as Theresa May said she wanted last month
* Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt said Theresa May was “battling for Britain” against the other 27 EU countries, some of whom thought “for the EU to survive Britain must fail”.
* Lord Kerr, who wrote Article 50, criticised the slow progress on Brexit, saying the UK government had “spent more time negotiating with itself and negotiating inside the Conservative party than it has scoping out the landscape in the 27 member states”.
* Shadow Foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Mrs May’s claim Brussels was meddling in the election showed she was “either paranoid and delusional or simply being manipulative".
* UK LibDem leader Tim Farron was forced to deny being a “Tory boy” after revealing he had a picture of Margaret Thatcher, amongst other politicians, on his bedroom wall as a child
* Labour said it would ban junk food adverts on TV before 9pm to tackle childhood obesity
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will use her party’s campaign launch in Rutherglen today to claim voters are “clearly rejecting the SNP’s attempt to force another referendum”.
She said: “The council elections showed people are turning away from the SNP, because they fed up with the Nationalists’ attempt to force another divisive referendum.
“The only way to stop the Nationalists is to vote Labour. The Tories are the party of the ‘rape clause’ and hard Brexit. Voting Tory doesn’t send a message to Nicola Sturgeon – it sends Theresa May back to Downing Street.”
UK LibDem leader Tim Farron will campaign in his party’s top Scottish targets today: East Dunbartonshire, North East Fife and Edinburgh West.
He urged voters to elect “local champions”, not cheerleaders for Brexit or independence.
He said: “In this election people in seats like these have a straight choice. They can reward Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond by sending another SNP cheerleader for independence to Westminster. Or voters can opt for a local Lib Dem champion who will reject independence, oppose a damaging hard Brexit and advocate for investment in mental health and education.
“A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a local champion. A vote for the SNP is a vote for a cheerleader for independence. We can use this election to bring an end to the division over independence by backing the Liberal Democrats.”
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