THE Scottish Tories have denied reports they will publicly back a second Brexit referendum as early as next week.
The party spoke out amid claims both Ruth Davidson and stand-in leader Jackson Carlaw are on board with the plans.
A spokesman said: “This is categorically not the case. We do not support a second referendum on EU membership.”
It comes after the New Statesman quoted a prominent Tory MSP insisting they “hate” the English party.
They said: “When I look at what’s going on down south, I feel appalled and embarrassed.
“I’m horrified at the support for no-deal being expressed by party members.”
The magazine said the Scottish Tories will back any measure which prevents the UK crashing out of the EU.
This includes supporting a second referendum if Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal fails to make it through Westminster.
Meanwhile, insiders said the Scottish Tories could break off from the UK party if Brexiters takes charge down south.
An MSP told the New Statesman: “An increasing number of people at the top table think we need our independence.”
Ms Davidson, who is currently on maternity leave, is known to dislike leading Brexiters such as Boris Johnson.
She publicly backed Mrs May’s deal earlier this week, tweeting: "The Prime Minister has cojones of steel and is putting in a punishing degree of effort to deliver for our country. She has my full support.”
Labour MP Ian Murray, who is campaigning for a second vote, welcomed the latest reports.
He said: "Ruth Davidson campaigned for Remain, but has since failed to stand up for the people in Scotland who will be hurt by Brexit.
“If her party is now belatedly coming round to the need for a People's Vote, that's to be welcomed.
"The Scottish Tories in Westminster have been nothing but lobby fodder who have pushed the country to the brink.
“It is now imperative that they put pressure on Theresa May to back a People's Vote.
"If they fail to do so, they will be responsible for a calamitous Brexit that will put the Union at risk."
It came as it was reported some of Mrs May’s allies want her to call a second referendum to prevent her Government from collapsing.
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