“They signed an agreement saying they would respect the result of the last referendum and that respect lasted 32 seconds before they decided to campaign for another one, so no, I don’t accept [they have a mandate],” said Ms Davidson, who is now a member of the House of Lords. “I don’t think you can keep asking a question because you didn’t like the answer. You can bet your bottom dollar that if they had won 55-45 they wouldn’t have let us do it again.” He added: “I think they [the SNP] they are a bit tied up and I’m not sure this plan to go to the Supreme Court and then have a general election campaign on who becomes UK Prime Minister… as a de facto referendum when it’s not, works. “I think that’s a sign of weakness that they don’t know what their next move is, but they had to do something. I’m not sure this plan is entirely effective – I choose my words very carefully.” The Better Together cross-party campaign was spearheaded in 2014 by Alistair Darling, the former Labor chancellor. However, there is uncertainty over whether a formal alliance between the Conservatives, Labor and the LibDems will re-emerge. Jackie Bailey, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said her party had made a “mistake” to work with the Tories during the campaign and suggested pro-UK parties should run “separate” campaigns in any future referendum. Mrs Davidson also revealed she had been asked by aides to Theresa May to stand for the British Parliament in the 2017 election in an English seat, but turned down the offer. He said he would never accept being “parachuted” into an English constituency, but left the door ajar to land in a Scottish seat at a future election. “I think my time in elected politics is up, but I’ve been wrong in the past,” he said.
“The people of Scotland will decide”
Responding to Ms Davidson, an SNP spokesman said: “The Scottish Government has received an ironclad democratic mandate from the people to hold an independence referendum – and we intend to do so on 19 October 2023. “Ruth Davidson said that if there was a majority of parties in the Scottish Parliament that supported independence then it was right to have a referendum on independence, and clearly that is the case. “In any case, it is the people of Scotland who will decide Scotland’s future – not a Tory government in Westminster or unelected Lords without a democratic mandate.”
