Scotland Secretary David Mundell's speech to Conservative Party Conference 2018

David Mundell MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, speaking today at Conservative Party Conference at The ICC, Birmingham, said:

Opening statement

“Thank you David for the introduction.

I would firstly like to take this opportunity to wish my colleague and friend, Ruth Davidson, well, on behalf of the Conference, before she goes on maternity leave.

I look forward to her return and continuing the work to make her leader… of a Scottish Conservative Government at Holyrood.  

Conference, the SNP have kept Scotland in gridlock for far too long.

Nicola Sturgeon continues to threaten us with a second independence referendum but has not called for one because she says that there is not enough clarity on the terms of the final Brexit Deal.

But we know what she is really saying is: Scots don’t want independence today but maybe the polls will say something different tomorrow.

Conference, that is just not good enough.

Every day that Scotland is stuck in a constitutional Groundhog Day is a day that our economy is being held back and that the SNP Government is not getting on with the day job of managing our schools and hospitals.

So I want to use this opportunity to say to Sturgeon….

It is time to end the constitutional uncertainty that we have lived with for the past four years.

It is time for Scotland’s two governments to work together in the best interests of the Scottish people.

It is time to move on.

Conference, it is clear that we are the only party that is standing up for a stronger Union.

Just two weeks ago, Jeremy Corbyn said that he ‘would decide at the time’ what to do if Sturgeon asked for his consent for a second independence referendum.

Conference, a man that can’t even make up his mind about the future of this country, is a man that we can never let into Downing Street.  

Because it is this party that is delivering opportunity for all in Scotland

Transferring substantial new tax and welfare powers to the Scottish Parliament.

Investing over £1 billion directly in cities from Inverness to Edinburgh.

Supporting the North Sea oil and gas sector.

Saving our armed forces from an SNP tax grab.

And that is the work that we will continue in the months and years ahead.

Q+A

You mentioned Growth Deals in your opening statement, what role do you think they have in strengthening the Union?

Growth Deals play a hugely important role in driving investment and creating jobs in local economies.

By investing directly in a city or region, we show the tangible benefits that the UK Government can bring to a local community. 

This has seen more than £1 billion of new funding committed to boosting the Scottish economy.

And we are going to continue this work.

For example, the Borderlands Deal will bring together councils on both sides of the England/Scotland Border in a single deal for the first time. 

This will not just create jobs in that region but also strengthen the Union directly, by reinforcing the existing cross-border ties and building new ones.

Growth Deals also show the benefits that can come from Scotland’s two governments working together, instead of pulling apart.

And we remain committed to delivering a Growth Deal for every part of Scotland.

And if we can achieve that working with the SNP then think of everything that we could achieve with Conservative governments in both Edinburgh and London.

I was in Aberdeen where I spoke to fishermen who were excited at the prospect of leaving the EU, what kind of opportunities do you see for our coastal communities from Brexit?

By leaving the EU, we will be leaving the Common Fisheries Policy.

That means that we will be able to take back control of our fishing waters and become an independent coastal state, where we negotiate quotas for domestic and foreign fishermen.

This will deliver a thriving and sustainable future for our fishing industry.

And it is clear that we are the only party that can be trusted to seize this golden opportunity.

The SNP would sell out our fishing communities in a heartbeat to re-join the EU.

So the message is clear: it is the Conservatives that will stand up for our coastal communities as the party of fishermen not the SNP.

The Conservatives have a strong record of devolving power, what do you see as the future of the devolution settlement for Scotland?

The Conservatives should be rightly proud of their role in delivering new powers for Scotland’s Parliament in the 2012 and 2016 Scotland Acts.

We are continuing to deliver on the Scotland Act 2016 by working to ensure that the Scottish Government can take over the new financial and welfare powers as set out in the legislation. 

The Scottish Parliament will also receive a range of new powers as a result of leaving the European Union.

However, too much of the political debate in Scotland has been dominated by the question of where powers should lie, rather than what we should do with them.

The SNP have deliberately done this to distract from their poor record and managerial approach to government.

I believe that Scotland now has a lasting constitutional settlement. It is now time for the SNP to stop being so timid, use the powers at their disposal to grow Scotland’s economy and improve its schools or make way for a government that will.

The Scottish Conservatives have had a dramatic turnaround in recent years, why do you think this has been?

I think that Conference was reminded yesterday of just how fortunate we are to have such a strong communicator in Ruth Davidson.

We all owe her a huge debt for all the hard work that she has done: more than doubling the number of our councillors, more than doubling the size of our MSP Group and not sending me alone to the House of Commons.

I also believe that our resolute and continuing defence of the Union has been instrumental in making us an important force in Scottish politics again.

As I said in my opening statement, Jeremy Corbyn has proven time and time again that Labour does not believe that keeping our country together is an important priority.

It is clear that if you believe in the Union, if you believe in a competitive and strong Scottish economy and if you believe that public services can and should be better, then the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is your political home.”