DOUGLAS Ross has said that he believes the Prime Minister supports Scottish devolution, despite reports that he told Tory MPs that it had been a "disaster."
The comments have sparked fury from both opponents and allies of Boris Johnson.
According to The Sun, he told a group of Tory MPs from the north of England that "devolution has been a disaster north of the Border".
He also supposedly described it as Tony Blair's "biggest mistake".
Ross told Sky News that he hadn’t been in the meeting and hadn’t seen a readout of the Prime Minister’s comments.
READ MORE: Scottish independence: 'Union is dead', says former Tory media chief
He added: “I believe the Prime Minister supports devolution, it was in the Conservative manifesto for the election last year, he was twice elected as mayor of London, but the focus has to be on how the SNP have failed Scotland over the last 13 and a half years of them being in power in the Scottish Parliament.”
Asked how much damage the comments would do to his party at next year’s elections, Ross said: “The Conservative Party believes in devolution, the Scottish Conservative Party believes in devolution, but we want devolution to work, and it doesn't work for individuals for families for communities, right across Scotland if you have a Scottish Government, that's focus is on independence.
“We've seen the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon’s programme for government couldn't find any time to even mention small businesses, but does find time to introduce another bill on independence for a referendum on independence.
“Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, at the weekend apologised for not having another independence referendum during the covid pandemic and has suggested there will be one next year.
“That's not where our focus should be the focus on all politicians of all parties should be dealing with COVID-19, getting on top of these this virus on the the economic response, as we recover as a country from coronavirus.”
Blackford said Ross and the Scottish Tory MPs needed to “finally find a backbone and back the SNP and others in opposing plans to attack the Scottish Parliament and rejecting the Internal Market Bill.“
He added: "People in Scotland will not be fooled by their pathetic attempts to voice opposition but repeatedly refuse to back their words with actions.
"Scotland's interests have not only been ignored by Westminster, but they are being actively undermined before our very eyes. It's clear beyond any doubt that the only way to properly protect our interests is by becoming an independent country."
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