Tory leadership: Truss and Sunak reject indyref2 in Perthon August 16, 2022 at 9:42 pm

Leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have rejected a second Scottish independence referendum at a hustings in Perth.

Mr Sunak said it’s “quite frankly barmy” that any government would focus on an independence referendum during the cost of living crisis.

And Ms Truss said she would not allow another independence referendum if she was elected.

The SNP said it was “depressing watching for Scots”.

For nearly two hours, the final two candidates pitched for the votes of Scottish Conservative members.

The UK will find out its next prime minister in less than three weeks on 5 September.

Activists, supporters and members of the public gathered outside the hustings at Perth Concert Hall before the event.

Some broke through the barriers and chanted “Tory scum” outside the front doors.

The two contenders to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister are taking part in a series of events around the UK.

The event in Perth gave local Tory members the chance to question the candidates on Scottish issues as well as other topics such as the cost of living and taxation.

Both candidates gave a speech then answered questions separately one after the other.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats said the Tory leadership debate was packed with “superficial platitudes that only play to their narrow Tory party member electorate”.

Meanwhile, the SNP called Sunak and Truss “two out-of-touch Tory ministers trying to out-Thatcher one another” who were “denying Scots their democracy”.

The SNP’s deputy Westminster spokeswoman Kirsten Oswald MP added: “The options for the next UK prime minister are truly grim.

“The pair repeatedly attempted to tell us tonight what Scotland wants.

“Scotland has made it clear what it does and doesn’t want by repeatedly rejecting the Tories at the polls and repeatedly voting for independence supporting parties.”

Having previously said she would ignore First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ms Truss clarified that she wanted a “constructive relationship” with the Holyrood administration but would ignore calls for another independence referendum.

Mr Sunak said: “I don’t just want to ignore Nicola Sturgeon; I want to take her on and beat her.”

As he promised to end the “devolve and forget mentality”, Mr Sunak told party members: “I will not be shy about calling out the SNP’s record on things like drug and alcohol abuse, because it is not good enough and the Scottish people deserve better.”

Both candidates discussed freeports – areas where imports are exempt from tariffs – and the benefits of Brexit.

Mr Sunak vowed to tackle “woke” culture and Liz Truss declared “a woman is a woman” to cheers from the audience.

On the cost of living crisis, Mr Sunak said he would cut VAT off energy bills.

He also said he would bypass the Scottish government to deliver funding directly to councils in Scotland.

Ms Truss said the number of defence contracts being given to Scottish firms would increase if she became prime minister.

She also said she would appoint Rishi Sunak as a Cabinet minister if she won the Tory leadership race.

Ms Truss also defended the outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson saying he did not mislead parliament and did a “great job as prime minister”.

However, Mr Sunak said the government “hasn’t been run with integrity” which was why he said he had resigned.

It is little surprise that both candidates took a hard-line position on indyref2.

They know that this is the ultimate red meat to throw to Conservative members north of the border.

The fact they agree on it also means there was an incentive for them to take an ever stronger position to one-up the other.

There was a warm reception for Mr Sunak overall, and he pushed particularly hard on the issue of independence – dismissing a fresh referendum as a “barmy” idea.

But it was Ms Truss who won by far the bigger cheers for her pitch about the UK as a “family” – a family she will “never, ever” allow to split up.

When the campaign was first narrowed down to the final two, it was initially hard to find Scottish Tories who would publicly back Ms Truss.

Those days are firmly forgotten now. She looked every inch the favourite as she rallied a group of MSPs for a photocall before the hustings had even begun.

After the reception she received, the foreign secretary will be hopeful that a good number of members who attended will be heading home to send in their ballots for her.