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Scotland and the Union

Previously, the hon. Gentleman did not wish to predict the outcome of the election. However, it is very unlikely that the Scottish National party could achieve the necessary numbers, and past form suggests that the Liberal Democrats might do a volte-face on virtually every issue on which they stand in the election, as they have on issues ranging from tuition fees to genetically modified crops. Despite what the hon. Gentleman said in the debate, the possibility of an SNP-Liberal Democrat coalition in Holyrood is very much open, and that will be bad for Scotland because a Scottish nationalist-led Administration will bring about the instability that we have discussed. However, this week’s vote will not destroy the Union because the election is not about the Union per se. I am happy to join Labour Members and Unionists across Scotland to fight the Union’s cause, but like my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron), I want to make a positive case for the Union. My right hon. Friend does not want to take the clunking-fist approach of the Chancellor, who is trying to scare everybody into thinking that Scotland would somehow be totally diminished and impoverished if it were not part of the Union; he wants to make a positive case for staying in the Union, as he did yesterday in Buchanan street in Glasgow, where he was so well received. The Labour party has made a serious mistake in fighting such a negative campaign in the election. I am relatively objective in the debate between the Labour party and the SNP, but I have not heard Labour policies being set out. Indeed, when Mr. McConnell was pushed this weekend, he could not answer questions about Labour’s policies on local income tax and council tax. People in Scotland will have a choice on Thursday and will be able to choose the change that they desperately want. I include the Liberal Democrats in those changes, because they have gone along with every policy of the Labour Administration, and it is incredible to see their leader, Nicol Stephen, trying to distance himself from decisions to which he was party. However, there is a chance for change and there is a party that offers delivery without divorce, which is why I urge people to vote for the Scottish Conservative party on Thursday.