Listen to Ruth Davidson or risk destroying 'fragile' United Kingdom, Lord Hague tells Boris Johnson
3 min read
Boris Johnson should stop "ignoring" Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson or risk putting an end to the "delicate" union of the United Kingdom, William Hague has warned.
The former Conservative leader and Foreign Secretary urged the new Prime Minister to give Ms Davidson "a strong place in his counsels and confidence", despite splits between the pair over a no-deal Brexit and the Cabinet sacking of ally David Mundell.
Ms Davidson this weekend made clear that she would defy the new PM over his plan to leave the EU without a deal if he cannot secure changes to the current Brexit withdrawal agreement.
"I don't think the Government should pursue a no deal Brexit and, if it comes to it, I won't support it," she declared.
Mr Johnson meanwhile ignored the Scottish Conservative leader's pleas last week not to oust Scottish Secretary David Mundell from the Cabinet, amid warnings it would only strengthen the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon.
A source told PoliticsHome: "Ruth argued strongly that David should stay while whoever Boris's pick was for junior Scottish Office minister learned the ropes.
"Her argument was that none of the other Scottish Tories had even been junior ministers and that Nicola and her team are astute operators."
Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Hague threw his weight behind Ms Davidson, praising her as "the only serving Conservative politician whose ability to transform the party’s fortunes is proven".
The party grandee said: "No one in politics thinks the Tory revival in Scotland would have happened without this plain speaking, down to earth, unconventional woman who has changed profoundly the views of disaffected Scottish voters about what it means to be a Conservative.
"Yet she was sufficiently alarmed about what a Boris premiership might bring that she supported not one, but three of the other leadership candidates in turn, only to see each of them eliminated. Faced with a Cabinet now assuming that there will be a no-deal Brexit, she is clear that she is against that.
He added: "Boris has so far ignored advice from Davidson on who to appoint as Scottish Secretary.
"He would be wise to give greater weight to her views, for her disagreements with him reflect not a clash of personalities but an unavoidable fault-line in the landscape of Brexit – Scotland and Northern Ireland did not vote for it. Both have a separate political identity from the rest of the United Kingdom and both can conceivably leave it."
'LAST PERSON TO LEAD UK'
The former Foreign Secretary meanwhile warned Mr Johnson that that "no amount of energy, optimism and talent" could overcome the threat that Brexit poses to "maintaining the unity of the United Kingdom".
"No one can know what the consequences would be after 31 October, but we do know that nationalists across the UK see this as their biggest ever opportunity," he said.
"Johnson is determined to deliver the full independence of the UK and his vision of its future, but he most certainly does not want to be the last person to lead a government of all of it. That should mean Davidson has a strong place in his counsels and confidence."
Lord Hague's intervention comes after Mr Johnson made his first trip to Scotland as Prime Minister, where he held talks with both Ms Davidson and Ms Sturgeon.
The SNP has already seized on the split between the Scottish Tory leader and Britain's new Prime Minister, with the party branding Ms Davidson a "busted flush".
Speaking after their meeting, Ms Davidson said: "The Prime Minister has made clear that the Government's preference is to leave the European Union with a deal. I back him wholeheartedly in that aim.
"Indeed, all 13 Scottish Conservative MPs backed a deal the last time one was presented in the House of Commons - as did the Prime Minister."
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