Tories' Holyrood success 'can halt SNP independence drive in its tracks'
The SNP's demotion to a minority government means Nicola Sturgeon now "cannot simply click her fingers and propose another independence referendum if and when she wishes", according to Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
The SNP's demotion to a minority government means Nicola Sturgeon now "cannot simply click her fingers and propose another independence referendum if and when she wishes", according to Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
Ms Davidson, who led the Tories to their biggest electoral success since devolution to become Holyrood's second biggest party, said the parliament "is now equipped to ensure that a fresh SNP drive on independence can be halted in its tracks".
Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail, Ruth Davidson said: "I hope Thursday's election will be the moment when we turn a corner in Scotland.
"I hope it will be the moment when we end the constitutional divisions that have so dominated our public life these last few years - and instead focus on ensuring Scotland, as part of the United Kingdom, becomes the best place to live in the United Kingdom.
"The good news is that the parliament you have elected is now equipped to ensure that a fresh SNP drive on independence can be halted in its tracks.
"By no longer having an overall majority, she cannot simply click her fingers and propose another independence referendum if and when she wishes."
Mocking Ms Sturgeon's oft-repeated grounds for another referendum, Ms Davidson said her failure to win an overall majority "is a material change in circumstance" for the SNP Government.
Writing in The Scotsman, new Tory MSP Adam Tomkins, who sat on the Smith Commission on devolution, said the SNP majority government "was a blip, now corrected".
"The result is that the Scottish Government will be weaker and the Parliament stronger," he said.
He said minority government "will force the SNP to reveal its true colours", insisting it has been seen as centre-right on tax but centre-left on spending.
"Riding both horses at once has been a hallmark of SNP success, but that is about to become a more difficult trick to pull off," he said.
He added: "In the next five years, left-right politics will be far more important in Scotland than the constitutional question.
"That, as well as having to govern with only a minority of MSPs in support, is going to make life difficult for the SNP and interesting for opposition politicians. Good."
Ms Davidson has also said Ms Sturgeon has "no mandate" for another independence referendum as it was not in the SNP manifesto.
However, the SNP's potential allies in the Scottish Green party, with whom the SNP may have to cut deals to get its legislation through, did propose a mechanism for a second referendum.
The manifesto stated: "Citizens should be able to play a direct role in the legislative process: on presenting a petition signed by an appropriate number of voters, citizens should be able to trigger a vote on important issues of devolved responsibility.
"This is the Scottish Greens' preferred way of deciding to hold a second referendum on Independence. In such a referendum the Scottish Greens will campaign for independence."
During the election campaign, Scottish Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said a petition signed by as few as 100,000 people could trigger another referendum.