People in Scotland want to have their say on whether the UK should be part of the European Union, Tory leader Ruth Davidson insisted as she launched the Conservative campaign for this month's Euro elections.
While SNP politicians claim the Tory pledge to hold an in/out referendum on EU membership is the "real threat" to Scotland's place in Europe, Ms Davidson said the majority of SNP voters want the issue to be put to the test in a ballot.
She also likened Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party (Ukip) - which is campaigning for Britain to leave the EU - to the SNP, claiming both parties use "anti-Westminster rhetoric" for political ends.
A UK-wide poll on Sunday gave Ukip a three-point lead for this month's European election with support of 29%, ahead of Labour on 26% and the Conservatives on 23%.
But Ms Davidson suggested Mr Farage's party would not do as well north of the border.
"We may see a moderate increase in Ukip support in Scotland," she said. "But I think Nigel Farage has seen when he's been trying to campaign north of the border that his party has come somewhat late to things, in terms of looking for a niche for a bellicose, nationalist voice to be anti-Westminster and pedal in some grievance. That role has already been filled, I would have suggested."
She added that "in terms of anti-Westminster rhetoric and using that for political ends I think there is a similarity there" between Ukip and the SNP.
The Tory leader insisted it is her party that is in line with public opinion on Europe.
She stated: "We've already seen from polling that was done last year that the majority of people in Scotland want an in/out referendum, and that includes both a majority of SNP voters and Labour Party voters.
"We've also seen in terms of the Scottish social attitudes study that was done last year that we have the most popular position, in terms of 40% of people wanting reduced powers for Brussels, 20% of people wanted out, 25% thought it was about right and the rest wanted more.
"So in terms of where the people of Scotland are on this, that's exactly where the Scottish Conservatives are."
Ms Davidson stressed: "I want Scotland and the UK to stay in the European Union - but the EU needs reform.
"Bottling that challenge - as both the SNP and Labour are doing - is to ignore the wishes of voters, and means the necessary change that will help Europe prosper will not come about."
But she said: "None of that will happen if the SNP rip Scotland out of the UK. We would lose all the hard won deals that guarantee benefits to us right now, such as our rebate, our opt-out from the euro, and VAT exemptions on goods like children's clothes."
She warned the independence referendum would "decide whether we can forge a new UK-wide deal with Europe, or whether we have to join the queue to get in".
For that reason, Tory candidates in the May 22 European Parliament elections will appear on the ballot paper beside the slogan "Scottish Conservatives - No to Independence", in a bid to make clear they believe staying in the UK is the best way of influencing reform in Europe.
Ms Davidson said: "It's a clear choice - a vote for the Scottish Conservatives at these elections is a vote to keep our UK family of nations together, so we can change Europe for the better."
At present the Conservatives has one Scottish MEP - Struan Stevenson - who is stepping down at this election, while both Labour and the SNP have two and the Liberal Democrats have one.
Ian Duncan, who worked in Europe for seven years as head of the Scottish Parliament's office in Brussels, is the lead Conservative candidate bidding to take Mr Stevenson's place in the European Parliament.
He claimed Mr Farage was "being slightly disingenuous" in the campaign, adding: "He's telling people to vote Ukip for change, but if you want to achieve change, that change will be brought about at a general election."
Mr Duncan added: "Scots want reform, a renegotiation of our relationship with Europe. And that is what Conservatives stand for - change, and then choice in a referendum."
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 hereComments are closed on this article