THE Scottish Tories have demanded the SNP drop their commitment to independence as a condition for attending John Swinney’s summit to tackle the rise of the far-right.
Russell Findlay has slammed the planned cross-party event as “yet another SNP talking shop” as he set out a list of demands that would need to be met before his party attended.
These were for the SNP to abandon their “divisive policy of dismantling the United Kingdom”, drop their backing for “gender self-ID” and apologise for peddling misinformation and disinformation”.
Findlay also said the Swinney should instruct his ministers to “stop making false statements in future”.
He said that Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party represented a “politics of fear” which would “divide us and destroy so much that we hold dear”.
But Findlay insisted the SNP were equally divisive because of their constitutional stance.
In a letter to the First Minister, Findlay wrote: “I agree with your view that the "threat from polarising forces is real". The majority of Scots who support our country's proud place in the United Kingdom are familiar with the polarising forces of nationalism generally and your party specifically.
“The nationalist movement, which you lead, is responsible for sowing division while seeking to blame others for your government's many failings.
“Women who are fighting to protect their hard-won rights are also familiar with the polarising and dangerous gender ideology being imposed on society by you and your party.”
Elsewhere, the Scottish Tory leader accused Swinney of “hypocrisy” over the SNP chief’s call to tackle “misinformation”, claiming the party had a “long record of being hostile towards transparency with examples including Salmond inquiry secrecy and deletion of Covid-related messages”.
He went on: “In addition, SNP politicians who are serially incompetent or dishonest are rarely ever held to account.
“Furthermore, you are apparently seeking to counter political division while simultaneously deciding who should and should not be invited to your taxpayer-funded summit, which is inherently divisive.
“When asked by the media whether I would attend, I said that I had no inclination to take part in yet another SNP talking shop. I have seen nothing to suggest that this event would be anything more than that.”
Findlay set out his ultimatum to the First Minister and concluded: “If you cannot agree to these reasonable and common sense requests, the paying public will see your summit for what it is – a politically-motivated and taxpayer-funded talking shop whose real purpose is to generate positive headlines for your government while distracting from its dismal record of failure.”
