Nicola Sturgeon will have 'unchecked power' to push independence if SNP wins majority, Tories warn

Nicola Sturgeon will have "unchecked power" to ride roughshod over the Scottish Parliament and push for a second independence referendum if she wins a majority in May's Holyrood election, Douglas Ross is to warn.

Launching his party's election campaign in Aberdeen, the Scottish Tory leader will argue that the Alex Salmond affair shows that a majority SNP government would have "shut down scrutiny, kept crucial evidence secret and shunned any and all accountability."

Even with Ms Sturgeon only having a minority government, he will say that "nobody has been held accountable" for the scandal but he warned "the situation doesn't bear thinking about" if she wins a majority on May 6.

He will say that “most damaging of all, with an SNP majority, Scotland’s recovery would be derailed by their obsession with another independence referendum.”

In addition, he warned Ms Sturgeon could push through more "dangerous" legislation without fear of parliament blocking it and "forget the rest of Scotland" that are not SNP strongholds.

In a direct plea to Unionist voters, he said they needed to "unite once again behind the Scottish Conservatives, just as they did in 2016, to stop an SNP majority."

His intervention comes as Ms Sturgeon sought to exploit the Prime Minister's low approval ratings north of the Border by arguing "Scotland’s recovery should be in Scotland’s hands – not Boris Johnson’s."

She added: "That means the people of Scotland have the right to decide their future in an independence referendum when the Covid crisis is over."

Ms Sturgeon also argued that "now more than ever is a time for experienced leadership" as she pledged to keep Scotland safe from the virus. However, she failed to mention the UK Government's hugely successful vaccine procurement and roll-out.

A series of polls show the SNP is on the verge of winning a majority, with the Tories and Labour locked in a battle for second place.

Mr Sturgeon was this week narrowly cleared of breaking the ministerial code over the Alex Salmond affair, normally a resignation offence, but a damning Holyrood inquiry concluded she misled parliament and gave an "inaccurate account" of a secret meeting with her mentor.

The MSPs also said the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints, and the subsequent judicial review, was "seriously flawed" and levelled a series of major questions about the conduct and competency of Ms Sturgeon's most senior civil servant.

But Leslie Evans, the permanent secretary, refused to resign and the Scottish Government said no one would pay for the debacle with their jobs as it was "a collective failure."

In his launch speech today, Mr Ross will say: "Nobody has resigned. Nobody has been sacked. Nobody has been held accountable.

“This lack of democratic accountability has occurred while they still need to rely on the Greens to prop them up. With an SNP majority, the situation doesn’t bear thinking about."

He noted that John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, was only forced to hand over secret legal advice when faced with losing a vote of no confidence in the Holyrood chamber and "his job was on the line."

Mr Ross noted that "we would never have seen all those damning documents if there was an SNP majority" and the inquiry would have "uncovered very little" as the committee would have been "stacked 5-4 in the SNP's favour."

But he warned voters that the "problem runs far deeper and wider than the Alex Salmond affair as SNP ministers would not have been forced into U-turns on the Hate Crime Bill, publishing daily Covid figures or business grants if they had enjoyed a majority.

He added: “Their indy ref two bill would pass without real challenge and they would proceed with a reckless referendum right away, while we’re still facing a health and economic crisis."

Mr Ross will expand on the Scottish Conservative’s central election message – ‘End Division. No Referendum. Rebuild Scotland’ - and set out his party's plans for recovery from the pandemic.

But Ms Sturgeon said: "If Westminster maintains control the real risk is they will wreck Scotland’s recovery with their austerity agenda, job-destroying hard Brexit and growing threat to our NHS.

“With independence we’ll have a recovery made in Scotland and we’ll have the powers needed to build a fairer and more prosperous country."