RISHI Sunak claimed the election campaign has been “easy” as he called on Unionist voters to back the Conservatives to “put independence on the backburner for a generation”.
The beleaguered Prime Minister visited Edinburgh on Monday for the launch of the Scottish Conservative manifesto.
He was joined by Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross as the party faced a growing scandal about senior Tories allegedly betting on the date of the General Election.
With just 10 days to go in the campaign, Ross (below) focused his message on pitching to Unionist voters to vote tactically, in seats where the Tories are the SNP’s closest challengers including places like Perth and East Renfrewshire.
And Sunak claimed the election was a chance to end the SNP’s “constitutional monomania”.
The Prime Minister, who a poll last week showed faces the prospect of losing his seat, said: “July 4 is Scotland’s chance to end the decade of division, to put independence on the backburner for a generation, to get back to the issues that really matter to communities up and down this country.
“But that can only happen if the SNP are routed, if they lose not just some seats but the SNP lose big.
“And voting Scottish Conservative is the only way to ensure that happens, because every Scottish Conservative MP returned makes our United Kingdom stronger and it sends a clear message: Scotland wants politicians who concentrate on the priorities of the Scottish people and not constitutional monomania.”
Speaking to journalists after the speech, Sunak vowed he would fight on to the bitter end, with polls predicting a Labour landslide, as he compared the campaign to his unsuccessful leadership race against Liz Truss (above).
The Prime Minister said: “I will fight very hard till the last day. Someone mentioned Liz Truss earlier on, well I was in that campaign, I fought very hard until the last day and you know what? When you’re fighting for something you believe in, actually it’s quite easy.”
He added that he had “no problem in getting out and fighting every single day until the end of this election campaign and talking to as many people about that choice as possible”.
Richard Thomson, the SNP candidate for Gordon and Buchan, said: "After 14 years of disaster after disaster from Westminster, it’s clear the Tories’ obsession with the SNP is all they have left.
“The Tory manifesto mentioned the SNP 88 times in 76 pages. They are rattled because they know a well deserved democratic drubbing is on its way and, here in Scotland, a vote for the SNP is the best way to get rid of every single Tory MP.
“But people in Scotland who’ve been made to endure the worst of austerity, Brexit, and the cost of living crisis, need more than just an escape from Tory politicians, they need an escape from Tory policy."
LibDem MSP Willie Rennie added: "The Scottish Conservatives' zombie campaign is like something out of Night of the Living Dead.
"They've got an out of touch Prime Minister with no leadership qualities, a Scottish leader who can't wait to quit and a disappointing record of failure stretching back years."
