Tories want Scotland to have independence, warns former Scottish secretary

Tory MPs who secretly advocate Scottish independence have been branded as “foolish”, according to a former Scottish secretary.

Lord Forsyth, who was secretary of state for Scotland under former prime minister John Major, said that some Tories want Scottish independence as this they believe it would lead to a perpetual Conservative majority in Westminster.

He pointed to Labour’s devolution of governmental power to Scotland not leading to absolute support for the party as evidence.

“There are number of foolish people in the Conservative Party in the south who are keen on independence,” said Forsyth.

“Labour thought that by creating devolution they would have permanent power in Scotland. I don’t think political parties can establish support by trying to gerrymander the constitution – the voters are smarter than that,” he added.

If Scotland had been excluded from the last election the Conservative party would have won with a majority of 21, leading to the misguided views of some MPs, according to Forsyth.

Scotland has been a Labour heartland in recent times with Labour winning 41 seats there compared to the Conservative Party’s one in the 2010 general election.

However, former Scottish first minister Henry MacLeish said that Scottish independence would affect Labour’s election chances.

“It’s obvious when you consider that the Scottish MPs form a very large part of the Labour group at Westminster,” MacLeish was reported to have said in The Telegraph.

“In the short term independence would have a huge impact, a massive impact on the political dynamic,” he concluded.

Michael Hegarty