Dear David,

I entirely agree with your comments about Ruth Davidson. There was much tactical voting in the General Election and overall I don’t think the SNP can be that confident of winning a Referendum on the back of those numbers. The Scottish elections are next May and there is no sign yet that the SNP have peaked – they are certainly over-confident almost to the point of arrogance. There is a substantial middle ground that has been left high and dry by all the other parties moving Left. I think people up here are beginning to realise that Ruth Davidson is an able leader and politician and any thoughts of tactical voting on the scale of the General Election are unlikely to happen again, because we are basically left with the Tories versus all comers on the economy. Nevertheless I fear it will take longer than next May for the Scots to wise up to the horrors of increasing taxation be it in income or any other form, at a time when the same taxes on the other side of Hadrian’s wall are falling or static. (Stamp Duty on houses up here is already heavily tilted against the more expensive properties which has paralysed the market. The danger is that the brightest and best will move to pastures new (if they can sell their houses) and then we will be in serious trouble.

David Fuller's view

Thank you for your interesting email on this emotive topic in Scotland and the UK generally.  I think the Conservative government will tread softly with Scotland and the SNP at this stage, not wishing to give them any political fuel or to hinder those who are likely to form a credible opposition.  The SNP’s policies are a combination of hard-left, strident class warfare, plus anti-English sentiment.  This has alarmed and angered many Scots who may not be organised but are becoming a somewhat less silent opposition.  I agree that this will take time but the SNP is its own worst enemy in terms of public opinion.  I think the UK government would be very unwise to encourage a brain drain from Scotland, since SNP policies are doing that effectively.  Moreover, Scotland has always had much to offer the UK, including a highly respected financial centre, should it continue to reject the independence fashion.