Ruth Davidson

:00:14. > :00:22.I am joined by the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth

:00:23. > :00:26.Davidson. With Kezia Dugdale, can we briefly start with Manchester.

:00:27. > :00:31.Drummer Corbyn's speech was described by Boris Johnson as

:00:32. > :00:33.absolutely monstrous, he said it was absolutely extraordinary and

:00:34. > :00:38.inexplicable in this week for weeks that there should be any attempt to

:00:39. > :00:42.legitimate the action of terrorists in this way. Would you distance

:00:43. > :00:46.yourself from that, on the grounds that having a sensible level-headed

:00:47. > :00:51.debate without that kind of language is what we need at the moment? I

:00:52. > :00:57.think that Rice said themselves what was behind this attack, they said

:00:58. > :01:00.that the foreign policy were secondary, they said it was an

:01:01. > :01:05.attack because this country is not a Muslim country and not a country of

:01:06. > :01:10.believers. In terms of who perpetrated this, whose fault this

:01:11. > :01:16.is, this is the coward that walked into the 48 of the Manchester indoor

:01:17. > :01:20.arena as streams of teenagers were leaving. He is at fault for this. We

:01:21. > :01:24.could talk about foreign policy all we like, but to suggest when such

:01:25. > :01:29.attacks have happened encourages like Belgian, Sweden, who have not

:01:30. > :01:33.shared foreign policy... That is Jeremy Corbyn is suggesting that,

:01:34. > :01:38.that he did not mean that at all? If you read the text, and the very

:01:39. > :01:44.quote you read to Kezia Kezia Dugdale Dugdale, he is saying it is

:01:45. > :01:49.part of the issue of why they are attacking us. We were not involved

:01:50. > :01:53.in Iraq RF can stand before the bombing, Sweeting was not involved

:01:54. > :01:56.in these sorts of conflicts either, but have been subject to these

:01:57. > :02:00.attacks. This is about a death cult that hate our freedoms, Don Mock

:02:01. > :02:06.Krissy, and that we tell our young girls that it is OK to a pop

:02:07. > :02:09.concert. And the way that we beat them is continuing to tell our young

:02:10. > :02:14.women that they can do that, there is nothing to stop them.

:02:15. > :02:19.Independence, your number one issue, all over the leaflets, but in the

:02:20. > :02:21.manifesto, you introduce two new criteria are over whether there

:02:22. > :02:29.could be another independence referendum, you said it would meet

:02:30. > :02:33.public consent. Nicola Sturgeon said she was forcing through to organise

:02:34. > :02:39.Brexit to drugs to another referendum on independence. There

:02:40. > :02:43.are two principles here, one, Scotland cannot be dragged back to

:02:44. > :02:46.another independence referendum when we do not know what the options look

:02:47. > :02:49.like because we do not know what exit are independence looks like

:02:50. > :02:54.because Nicola Sturgeon will not say whether she is in our out of the EU.

:02:55. > :02:58.We should not be dragged when the people of Scotland do not want it. I

:02:59. > :03:04.have a bit of an aisle while Matt, which is Nicola Sturgeon, because

:03:05. > :03:07.the 2016 election, I was standing next to her on a platform doing one

:03:08. > :03:11.of these television debates and she said time and time again that if the

:03:12. > :03:15.people of Scotland did not want to referendum, there would not be won.

:03:16. > :03:22.She would not have the right to call one if people did not call... We won

:03:23. > :03:25.the Scottish elections last year, the ScottishPower and has voted for

:03:26. > :03:31.this, what are you saying? Are you saying these opinion polls have to

:03:32. > :03:35.go it different way? A conditional statement in their manifesto, they

:03:36. > :03:40.lost their majority, they also told the public that if there was not a

:03:41. > :03:44.change in public will for this, then they would not drag us there. Also,

:03:45. > :03:49.we saw in 2011 but what public consent looks like, we saw broad

:03:50. > :03:52.agreement across parties, even like Kezia Dugdale and myself recognised

:03:53. > :03:59.there was a mandate for independence. But the SNP do not

:04:00. > :04:06.have legitimacy arguing for a referendum unless you agree with

:04:07. > :04:10.them? You ask them any question at all and it is always about

:04:11. > :04:14.independence. But with democratic norms, they have a mandate for it. I

:04:15. > :04:20.do not accept that they do. I do not accept when you lose your majority

:04:21. > :04:24.Let's but the Scottish Parliament has voted for their majority. But

:04:25. > :04:29.only did they sign an agreement that says we will not come back, we will

:04:30. > :04:32.respect the result. They are clearly not respecting it. Nicola Sturgeon

:04:33. > :04:36.looked the people of Scotland in the eye and said if there is not the

:04:37. > :04:42.changing public opinion, she would not drag us back. She is. We need to

:04:43. > :04:46.stop her and people can help you stop her by voting for my party.

:04:47. > :04:56.Let's say you achieve your dream and URA position of becoming First

:04:57. > :05:00.Minister, the SNP... You have something in your manifesto that you

:05:01. > :05:05.wanted to implement and everyone turned around and said, even though

:05:06. > :05:09.you have one, almost an absolute majority, you have no mandate for

:05:10. > :05:13.that, view would be furious, you would say this is an attack on

:05:14. > :05:19.democracy. But that happens all the time in Parliament. Attacks under

:05:20. > :05:26.democracy ROK? You have to have a plurality of opinion in Scottish

:05:27. > :05:30.politics,... You said in July last year that if the ScottishPower Mint

:05:31. > :05:34.voted for another referendum, the UK should not stand on its way. I have

:05:35. > :05:39.never said it should be denied. That is a direct quote. Why have you

:05:40. > :05:44.changed your mind? The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State

:05:45. > :05:49.as saying the same thing. The same as I have never said the UK

:05:50. > :05:52.Parliament would and I devote? You have said they would never be a

:05:53. > :05:56.referendum again was that they said there cannot be won and the people

:05:57. > :05:59.of Scotland do not know what the options look like, the do not know

:06:00. > :06:03.what Brexit looks like, nor should there be one when the people do not

:06:04. > :06:09.want one. It is clear Scotland is not want one and why we have seen

:06:10. > :06:12.some panicked reactions from the SMP because they are realising they

:06:13. > :06:15.started the campaign putting independence at the heart. Now they

:06:16. > :06:23.are talking about it less because they know people are turning away,

:06:24. > :06:26.six schools, six-hour hospitals. You also say that there cannot be

:06:27. > :06:32.another referendum until the Brexit process has played out. What does

:06:33. > :06:39.that mean? Until we know how it is working. There will be a primary

:06:40. > :06:46.transfer of powers as we leave the from Brussels to Westminster. But

:06:47. > :06:47.then there will be a secondary transferral of power to devolved

:06:48. > :06:53.administrations and local authorities in England. So does it

:06:54. > :06:58.mean till we know the final deal, does it mean for a period after

:06:59. > :07:02.that, do we know how it will work in practice? This is in response to

:07:03. > :07:05.Nicola Sturgeon who is promoting this. The day after the Brexit vote,

:07:06. > :07:10.she said she had already instructed to zil servants to drop the

:07:11. > :07:16.necessary legislation for independence. We said we need to

:07:17. > :07:23.know what we are voting on. We will know by 2019. We will know what the

:07:24. > :07:27.focus of the deal is, but we will not know how it compares to Scotland

:07:28. > :07:32.and the transferral of powers. There are lots of people who agree with me

:07:33. > :07:35.that we need to make sure we get this right, and one way of not doing

:07:36. > :07:42.that with different nations in the UK pulling apart, the countries pull

:07:43. > :07:45.together to get a good deal. Can you see the conditions that the

:07:46. > :07:53.Conservative Party Chairman the UK wide and Scottish manifesto Let's be

:07:54. > :07:59.met before the next Scottish elections in 2021? I'm not going to

:08:00. > :08:04.advocate for this to be held within the next Parliament, held within the

:08:05. > :08:09.next generation which these people were promised. You have accepted the

:08:10. > :08:15.SMP have some sort of mandate, you are not saying no. It is a weak

:08:16. > :08:19.mandate. Can you see the conditions you have laid down in your manifesto

:08:20. > :08:24.being met before 2021? Current play with support in this support going

:08:25. > :08:27.down foreign independence referendum, I do not see it

:08:28. > :08:34.happening soon. The people of Scotland do not want it. Not very

:08:35. > :08:38.good while after 2021? At the moment, with what we have seen over

:08:39. > :08:42.the last few years, there is no support for another independence

:08:43. > :08:45.referendum, it is no look like there will be, and has weird scene from

:08:46. > :08:50.Nicola Sturgeon trying to ditch independence as a campaigning to

:08:51. > :08:54.all, we're not going to see it soon. Your critics will say a game you are

:08:55. > :08:58.tampering with democracy. What you are trying to do is put things off

:08:59. > :09:02.until the next Scottish election in the hope the SMP mandate runs out

:09:03. > :09:08.and the do not have the majority for their position. Nicola Sturgeon once

:09:09. > :09:13.this hell or high water, you have a Labour Party where Jeremy Corbyn

:09:14. > :09:17.says he's fine with another independence referendum. You have

:09:18. > :09:25.spoken to the Scottish Labour leader Hugh is barking deals that back who

:09:26. > :09:32.is blocking deals. She says it is fine for SMP is to Let's if you want

:09:33. > :09:37.to stop this, help me, I'm telling people at home, help me stop this. I

:09:38. > :09:42.think to be fair to Kezia Dugdale, she went back, tinny interview she

:09:43. > :09:47.has done with me. She should Nicola Sturgeon have a seat at the Brexit

:09:48. > :09:53.talks? I want work for Scotland, so... But she wants a seat in the

:09:54. > :09:58.talks. My problem with that is Nicola Sturgeon once Scotland to be

:09:59. > :10:01.out of the UK but in Europe. I want to know which side of the table she

:10:02. > :10:06.would be sad that because she does not want the UK to exist and she won

:10:07. > :10:13.Scotland back in. You said you are open to a review of the so-called

:10:14. > :10:16.white cause. And you have faced criticism for not calling for such a

:10:17. > :10:21.review to take place, so would you like to take the opportunity to

:10:22. > :10:29.rectify that and how it operates in practice? You would call an Theresa

:10:30. > :10:34.May to institute such a review? We have not seen it work it because it

:10:35. > :10:40.has just been brought in. What does it mean to say you are open to a

:10:41. > :10:43.review? People have made criticisms of this, because this is a sensitive

:10:44. > :10:51.issue and India deserves time spent on it. This is where people of

:10:52. > :10:55.hard... There is a policy that has been brought in that is in place

:10:56. > :11:00.that is for the first two children, you receive tax credits, and after

:11:01. > :11:02.that you do not. People within the benefits system faced the same

:11:03. > :11:08.questions that are out of it. There are right to be exceptions to that,

:11:09. > :11:13.people who have children born of rape in this way. This is about

:11:14. > :11:18.getting them extra help. The question has been how is that done.

:11:19. > :11:21.It is the same system as having a third-party professional help fill

:11:22. > :11:26.out the form with the person, help them do it, in the way we have

:11:27. > :11:30.cross-party support for domestic violence victims as well. If we can

:11:31. > :11:35.improve that, and people have suggested that it could, but have a

:11:36. > :11:38.look at that. If we see there are problems and complications once it

:11:39. > :11:44.is rolled out, we review that, and we are open to that. Why not just

:11:45. > :11:49.oppose the underlying policy of restricting benefits to two

:11:50. > :11:56.children? You are defined Theresa May on winter fuel payments. There

:11:57. > :12:10.are many well-off pensioners asking why they get the payments when they

:12:11. > :12:14.can afford to keep themselves. It seems an anti-Tory policy. I think,

:12:15. > :12:19.to be fair, this is not about child benefit. You get it never mind how

:12:20. > :12:24.many children you have. This is about child tax credits. This is

:12:25. > :12:28.about the same decisions for people. Why not say that is wrong? It is

:12:29. > :12:35.about making sure we have a fair system. Why is it right to restrict

:12:36. > :12:41.tax credits to two children, but wrong to means test winter fuel

:12:42. > :12:45.benefits? There are questions you have to ask when you start a family,

:12:46. > :12:48.and your income does not automatically go a bit you have

:12:49. > :12:52.another child. Some of the questions asked at the same for people who are

:12:53. > :12:57.not in that situation. In terms of my choice on devolution of winter

:12:58. > :13:03.fuel payments, this is about the envelope. Millionaires get wind of

:13:04. > :13:07.your benefits, but were people with more than two children to not get

:13:08. > :13:14.tax credits? That is what you are saying. It is a decision made. All

:13:15. > :13:17.people over a certain age have help with their heating and fuel

:13:18. > :13:24.allowance. They can means test that, and the money saved will be

:13:25. > :13:27.reinvested into social care. There is no extra investment on one side

:13:28. > :13:30.of the border or the other and we want to keep that with people over a

:13:31. > :13:37.certain age with what they always wanted. What they all is wanted

:13:38. > :13:44.before, sorry. Income tax, you want the rates to be the same in Scotland

:13:45. > :13:48.and England. Given there is no commitment to not raising income tax

:13:49. > :13:53.in the Tory manifesto, if they do raise it, will you support a rise in

:13:54. > :14:03.Scotland? There are no plans for that,... Saying we have designated

:14:04. > :14:08.the sky as green... Tories pledging no new taxes is normal and it is not

:14:09. > :14:13.there. We have got income taxes, we have raised the threshold, we have a

:14:14. > :14:16.situation where Scotland in a contracting economy which is one

:14:17. > :14:20.quarter away from recession. We should not have higher taxes here,

:14:21. > :14:23.because it is bad for the Scottish economy. We will have to leave it

:14:24. > :14:27.there. Thank you very much.