An Open Letter to Ruth Davidson

Dear Ruth,

I today received a shameful Scottish Conservatives leaflet, written by you, "We need to send Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP a message they CAN'T ignore".

In this leaflet, you claim "The SNP promised the 2014 independence referendum would be a 'once in a generation' vote." and accuse the First Minister and her party of breaking that promise.

In fact, no such promise was ever made. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon both gave their opinions that the vote should be a once in a generation event. You and your party have continually tried to twist these opinions to make them sound like SNP policy, which they never have been.

Not two weeks ago your boss, Theresa May, was saying there would be no General Election until 2020. Was that a promise? And if so, is that now a broken promise?

You say "Nicola Sturgeon is demanding another independence referendum". In fact, in 2015 Scotland sent 56 out of 59 MPs to Westminster, whose goal is Scottish independence. Nicola Sturgeon stood for election as First Minister in 2016 on a mandate to seek a second referendum on independence, and the majority of the Scots electorate voted in an SNP government on that understanding.

And while we are on about broken promises, in the run up to the 2014 referendum, the Scots electorate were told that staying in the Union was the only way to stay in the EU.  The subsequent vote to leave the EU, opposed by 62% of the Scots electorate across all 32 local authority areas, gave a distinct change in constitutional matters, which gives even more impetus for the importance a second referendum on independence.

If the Scots electorate do not want a second referendum on independence, then the continued popularity of the SNP is a very strange way of showing it.

You say "We need to send her a clear message - we don't want another vote on independence." And who do you quote on that? The Scottish Daily Express, the Scottish Daily Mail, and the Scotsman; three newspapers known to be extremely sympathetic to the Conservative Party and Unionist views.

You say "Only the Scottish Conservatives can be relied on to send that message", and supply headlines of Jeremy Corbyn, saying it should be held, a "Labour Deputy" saying they would not stand against it, and Nick Clegg warning against trying to block it.

Have the Conservatives learned nothing from the 1990s, when yours was the only party to completely oppose a referendum on devolution? That referendum went ahead despite Tory opposition - and ultimately gave you the post which you hold today. Now that senior political figures are saying that a second independence referendum should be held, do you not think it would be wise to listen to them? Or are you intent on being on the wrong side of history yet again?

On the rear of the leaflet you say "her government should get back to the job they were elected to do - improving our schools and hospitals and growing our economy".

That would be the Scottish schools which are doing better than their counterparts in England in the core subjects, in a Scotland which is the best educated country in Europe. The Scottish hospitals which are outperforming hospitals in England. And yes, the Scottish economy did fall, along with the rest of the UK, in the wake of the EU Referendum. Yet Scotland has the lowest unemployment in the UK, and businesses continuing to start up and locate in Scotland. The Scottish economy is in fact doing rather well, despite the Westminster and the Union holding it back from its true potential.

When I look at the way that Westminster is mismanaging education, health and the economy, compared to Holyrood, I know which I prefer.

You say "Week in, week out, we will continue to demand the SNP drops its obsession with independence." Go ahead. And you will only make people sick to death of your continual one-issue parroting. It will be about as effect as your petition to block a second independence referendum was; not at all.

You then state that you will challenge the SNP to deliver "better public services, safer streets, and more jobs", while conveniently failing to mention that Scotland has excellent public services, crime is at an all-time low in Scotland, and - again - unemployment in Scotland is lowest in the UK.

But then, neither do you make any mention, nowhere, not once in the entire leaflet, the policies of the Scottish Conservatives on any of these issues.

All you have is negativity. All you can do is keep whinging about a second independence referendum. And given that we have local authority elections in May and a general election in June, for you to fail to make any mention of what your policies are on any of the above, indeed no mention of any Conservative policies at all, is utterly despicable.

And here's the rub, although I do want a second referendum on independence, I am not even a member of the SNP, or any political party for that matter. As such, I was completely turned off by your leaflet and all the negativity it contains. I am only writing this before I put your leaflet in the bin, which is the only fit home for it.

This is one voter you have completely failed to reach, and have only made all the more determined to vote for the SNP; who are delivering upon their election promises, despite the Westminster government doing their utmost to try and stop them doing so.

If you had any courage of your convictions, you would not oppose a second referendum on independence. That you are so vociferously against it suggests to all is that your real fear is that it would deliver a resounding YES for an independent Scotland.

If you are so sure Scotland does not want independence, put your money where your mouth is, persuade the Prime Minister to allow a second referendum, and allow the people of Scotland to decide.

Yours faithfully,

A well-informed Scot

Sit Doon An' Haud Yir Wheesht, Ruth

Ruth Davidson MSP ~ Proud to be ???

Oan 1 June 1999, the devolved Scottish Parliament wis convened for the first time. Amang the opening ceremony, singer Sheena Wellington sang the Robert Burns sang "Is There for Honest Poverty", alsae kent as "A Man's a Man for A' That". The sang wis performit as written, in the Scots leid whit the bard penned it in.

It is efter a' the Scottish Parliament; the parliament o' Scotland, whaur people commonly spik their ain tongue. So whit wad be mair fitting than tae open it wi' Burns's anthem o international britherhood in the Scots leid?

No' good enouch it seems for the Scottish Conservative Party leader, Ruth Davidson MSP. Oan Monday, 28 March, during the debate oan whether or no' tae ask Westminster tae rin a second referendum oan independence, the Tory leader quoted the words o' SNP MSP Joan McAlpine, and then added "I won't do the accent."

The accent! I ask ye? It's aye lang been kent that the Tories dinnae and wullna recognise the Scots Leid in it's ain richt, and there's yir proof. The leader o' the Scots Tories decided tae deride oor native tongue in the debating chamber o' Scotland's ain parliament.

Joan McAlpine, for her pairt, later Tweeted "I'm a member of the Scottish Parliament who speaks with a Scottish accent - like vast majority of the population. Tories find it funny."

Weel said, Joan, but jist ane thing; ye dinnae spik wi' a "Scottish accent" ~ ye spik the Scots leid.

And it's no' like Ruth spiks perfect RP English either. Aiblings she micht want tae, but ends up wi' a sort o' strangulated 'Edinburgh Fine' / ploom in the mou English, which because o' the inflection she pits oan it, ends up sounding mair Scots.

It seems tae me that becoming the leader o' the opposition in the Scottish Parliament, when the Tories owertook Labour in the 2016 elections, the power has gane tae Ruth's heid. At anither point First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP tried tae intervene oan her speech, and Ruth Davidson snapped at the leader o' Scotland "Sit down."

Cud ye imagine whit wad happen if Theresa May attemptit tae interrupt Jeremy Corbyn in the Palace o' Westminster, an' the Labour leader tellt the Prime Minister o' the UK tae "Sit down"? There wad be mayhem and wee Johnnie Bercow wad hae tae tak steps agin the leader o' the opposition, and wad be weel within his ricths tae dae sae. Why the Prisiding Officer o' the Scottish Parliament didna therefore intervene and ask Ruth Davidson tae withdraw her remarks and apologise is ayont me.

We a' weel ken jist how high-falutin the Tories think themseels tae be. But Ruth Davidson's behaviour went weel ayont the boundaries o' common decency and respect we should expect in the Scottish Parliament. Grantit, the debate wis a heated ane, but sic outbursts shouldna e'er be allowed tae gae unpunished.

But whit's really got ma dander up is Ruth Davidson's denial o' her ain culture, by ridiculing the Scots Tongue. When ony English person derides Scots, then as odious as it may be, it comes o' ignorance, and because o' that, if the person apologises and is contrite aboot it, it kin be forgien, and e'en understood tae an extent.

Ruth Davidson, has nae sic excuse. She is Scots through and through, wis brocht up wi' the mither tongue, an' for her tae therefore deride it canna e'er be forgien. I can stomach an anti-Scots English person tae an extent. The ane thing I canna, and wullna, e'er respect or forgie is an anti-Scots Scot, which is mair than a hunnert times warse, forbye.

Fowk like Ruth Davidson aye claim tae be "Proud to be Scottish. Proud to be British." but by their ain words aye gie awey whaur their true loyalites lie. These are the fowk o' the same ilk o' thae wha systematically erodit the Scots Leid in the schules, in law, and in everyday life. They claim tae be Scots, but in reality they're ashamed o' their ain culture; ashamed o' being Scots.

We see the same frae 'Scottish' Labour, whae claim to be proud Scots, but gae oot o' there wey tae e'en appear remotely Scots. The Labour cooncil in Glesca ance tried tae pressurise the SNP group tae tak doon a 'nationalist' banner frae a windae lookin' oan tae George Square. Whit wis this 'nationalist' symbol whit made Labour sae black affrontit? A Saltire flag. The national flag o' Scotland, the auldest national flag in existence, their ain flag, that's whit. Is it ony wonder I refer tae Labour in Scotland as "Labour (North British Branch)"?

I dinnae mind fowk haein opposin' political views tae ma ain pro-independence anes. Thon's democracy. I ken weel that there are fowk whae are proud Scots but support the Union, e'en in ma ain family. But when someone claims tae be a Scot, I expect them tae staund staunchly by thon statement. When they fail tae dae sae, then I canna consider them tae be Scots at a'.  Ian Hamilton, ane o' the lads whae walked aff wi' the Stone o' Destiny oan Christmas Day 1950, hud it richt aboot sic fowk in a magazine article he ance wrote, 'Bringing it Home' (Daily Record Story of Scotland, 1995), Hamilton said o' fowk like Ruth Davidson, "They're not Scots; they are North Britons."

But e'en then, when ye consider fowk frae the north o' England kin weel understaund we Scots, and that there are thae Scots wha dae spik RP English (but dinna deride the Scots leid) yet are Scots a' the same, and wi' her owerstepping her ain authority, ablings Ruth Davidson disnae e'en see herseel as a 'North Briton', but rather as a Middle Englander wannabe.  Efter a', it wis jist in September 2016, when Ruth wis invitit tae an event attendit by the Prime Minister, she respondit "Usually they put the Scots in a place where nothing can be broken. Or stolen for that matter!"  Sae as heated as the debate wis, she kin hardly claim it wis a momentary lack o' judgement.  Naw, Ruth is an anti-Scots Scot, richt enouch.

Weel, Ruth is nae Miss Jean Brodie (wha in the buik wis actually a very proud Scot), sae she kin tak her schoolmarm strictness, and her derision an' denial o' her ain tongue and culture elsewhere. But as she does, tae return tae Burns she may weel consider that when Burns decidit tae publish his poems in the Scots Leid, ayebody said they wad ne'er sell. Aroond thrie hunnert years later, a pair o' young laddies ca'in' themseels The Proclaimers decidit tae record sangs in the Scots Leid, and ayebody said they wad ne'er sell.

Perhaps Ruth Davidson wad like tae teel us jist whae wis richt, and whae wis wrang, oan baith occasions?

An' whiles she ponders thon, she may herseel want tae consider some o' the words o' "Is There for Honest Poverty":

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a couf for a' that:

For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.