THE prospect of the Scottish Conservatives backing a People’s Vote has been dismissed out of hand by senior Tories.
One described the idea as “b******s” and another that it would be “political suicide” for the party in Scotland.
It was raised in an article in the left-wing magazine, the New Statesman, which quoted a party source as saying: “No-deal would be disastrous and jeopardise the Union, so we will reluctantly have to go back to the country and ask them.”
It was further suggested the possibility that the UK might crash out of the EU without a deal and the potential consequences this could have for the future of the Union in face of the SNP threat had so worried Scottish Conservatives that they would be willing to support another EU referendum and that party leader Ruth Davidson and her deputy Jackson Carlaw were “signed up to this position”.
Scottish Labour’s Ian Murray, who supports a second EU vote, quickly seized on the suggestion, saying: "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 Edinburgh MP went on: "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," added Mr Murray, speaking on behalf of the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign.
However, a number of senior Scottish Tories ridiculed the notion that they could back a People’s Vote.
One told The Herald: “That would be political suicide and would get utterly no support from the parliamentary party.”
Another described it as “nonsense” while a colleague insisted it was a “non-starter”. A fourth was more ebullient, declaring: “Excuse the vernacular but it’s b******s.”
However, there is a feeling of dismay and even anger among Scottish Tories at some of the views of their hardline Brexiteer colleagues from south of the border.
One described them as “English Nationalists, no better than the SNP in a way”. He claimed they had no feeling or indeed love for the Union and would not care if Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues got their way and forced the “break-up of Britain”.
Most of the Scottish Conservative MPs would be horrified by a no-deal Brexit as they believe it would greatly enhance the cause of the SNP towards its campaign for Scottish independence via a new referendum north of the border.
At the Tory Party conference, some of them referred to “Operation Arse,” a campaign to keep ardent Brexiteer Boris Johnson, the former Foreign Secretary, off the leadership ballot paper should Theresa May be ousted.
Their fear is that the election of arch-Leaver Mr Johnson as the next Tory leader would go down very badly in Scotland, which voted by a large majority to Remain in the EU. Party sources fear it would be fatal to Ms Davidson’s chances of becoming First Minister in 2021 and would be a major boost to the SNP’s aim of creating an independent Scotland.
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