Ruth Davidson launches attack on 'London-centric' United Kingdom
3 min read
Britain remains too "London-centric" despite 20 years of devolution, Ruth Davidson will say today.
The Scottish Tory leader will use her keynote address to the party conference in Manchester will say there needs to be "more Union" across the country to thwart nationalists who want to break up the country.
Ms Davidson, who came second in a poll of Tory members on who should succeed Theresa May as leader, will say: "Devolution of power has transformed our nation for the better. It has put power closer to people. But – at the same time – while we’ve built vigorous new devolved structures, we’ve not done enough to nurture that which binds us.
"As the Prime Minister said in Scotland earlier this year, all too often, Whitehall devolves and forgets. And the danger is that we become a country that stays together, but lives apart - with the cracks exploited by those who would pull us apart for good."
Ms Davidson - who has led a major Tory revival north of the Border - will draw a stark comparison between the London economy, sustained by the "jet fuel of high finance", and that of the devolved nations.
She will argue it is unfair that London should get the lion's share of civil service jobs on top of its already booming private sector and property market.
"It's wonderful that our small island nation plays host to the capital of the world," Ms Davidson will tell delegates.
"But the truth is for all the devolution of power in the last 20 years, our Union continues to be far too London-centric. We live in a country where the property values of London's top 10 boroughs are worth more than all of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales combined.
"Where you can sell up a three-bed semi in Ilford, and buy half of Sutherland. Where, in a capital city already zooming forward on the jet fuel of high finance, the economy is further boosted by enough civil servants to fill Wembley stadium."
She will make an explicit bid to move more Whitehall jobs north of the border, saying: "The Government is reviewing the various agencies based in London to see which ones could be ready for a move.
"So I want us to seize the opportunity to ensure more of them come to Scotland."
The SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, claimed Ms Davidson was not willing to argue for more devolution to help deliver public services in Scotland.
"She wants Scotland to have civil service offices, but to not have the powers to shape the services that they deliver," he said.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
