Will the real Ruth Davidson please stand up?

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Friday 14 June 2019 15:57 BST
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Boris Johnson claims traditional parties are facing 'existential threat'

It appears that a third Ruth Davidson has appeared. A person called Ruth Davidson recently said that a referendum on Scottish independence should only happen if the SNP wins an “outright majority” at the next Holyrood elections.

Prior to this another person called Ruth Davidson said that the next UK prime minister should continue to refuse a referendum on Scottish independence whatever the circumstances. In July 2016 another person, also called Ruth Davidson, commented it would “not be wise” for the next prime minister to block a request for a second independence referendum.

At the time she noted that questions over trading markets, currency and borders were now “utterly different” following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. It would clearly be good for the public to know which Ruth Davidson is the leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

SNP supporters campaigning for a general election should remember how their leader was chosen

I’m amused by SNP supporters on social media insisting that, following the failed Brexit implementation process in the House of Commons, the change in prime minister should be instigated via a general election and not by the Tory membership.

How short their memories must be. Nicola Sturgeon replaced Alex Salmond in 2014, after his failed independence attempt, without a Holyrood election. Indeed, not even SNP members voted, as Sturgeon was unopposed – she simply assumed the office of first minister.

Martin Redfern
Edinburgh

Grenfell should remind the Tories that actions have consequences

On 14 June, Tory leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson posted the following on Twitter: “Two years on from the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, we stand with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. The most fitting tribute that our country can pay to the victims of Grenfell is to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.”

Boris Johnson was mayor of London between 2008 and 2016. In 2014 he shut 10 London fire stations, cut 588 front line firefighter posts and took 14 fire engines out of service to “save money”. In 2013, in the London assembly, Johnson told a critic of his cuts to London’s fire service to “get stuffed”. Actions have consequences. Johnson and the Tories have the blood of Grenfell Tower on their hands.

Sasha Simic
Hackney

Corbyn will be salivating over a potential Johnson premiership

The UK has already been made the laughing stock of the world as a result of Tory party paranoia and division over Europe. If the Conservative membership votes into power an individual who regards buffoonery as a political virtue, and is afraid of scrutiny, then the Conservative Party is unworthy of governing and deserves to be consigned to history at the next election. Jeremy Corbyn must be rubbing his hands at the prospect of a Johnson premiership.

Arthur Streatfield
Bath

Sturgeon’s talk of ‘Scottish values’ is not as inclusive as it seems

Nicola Sturgeon often speaks of “Scottish values” when on the international stage, as she did recently in Brussels, linking these to independence and EU membership. As she once again claims the moral high ground, she implies that those of us who do not accept the SNP are Scotland – along with our families, friends and colleagues in the rest of the UK – somehow care less about the issues of the day. This vision of nationalist superiority might play well with the party faithful, but the natural reaction of the rest of us is to simply recoil.

Keith Howell
Scottish Borders

There should be a petition to stop Boris Johnson

Given The Independent’s recent petition success, perhaps a new petition should be launched to stop Boris Johnson. Surely the nation wants a PM who is honest, not a man with well-established incompetence in public office. That 160,000 Conservative Party members might be unconcerned about Johnson’s CV should not deter the rest of the country making its voice heard loudly in the absence of a general election.

Colin Narbrough
Address supplied

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