SCOTLAND's place in the Union could be “acceptable collateral damage” for Tory a no deal, a former chairman of the Scottish Conservatives has claimed

Peter Duncan, who served as an MP between 2001 and 2005 and was shadow secretary of state for Scotland under Michael Howard, said he hopes someone inside the UK negotiating team had “more than half an eye on the consequences for the Union if no trade deal can be agreed”.

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Writing in the Sunday Times, Duncan - who voted for Brexit - said that failing to reach a trade deal may be “the hammer blow that was feared for Scotland’s place within the UK”.

He said:”Declaring an interest, I voted for Brexit, and no one needs to convince me of the benefits of setting ourselves free from EU membership, but we need to maintain a clear focus on what really matters in the way this trade deal is concluded, or not.

“For Scotland, this really matters. Failure to come to terms may be a hammer blow for those who, like me, want to see the continued prosperity of the UK. In fact, it may be the hammer blow that was feared for Scotland’s place within the UK.”

The Tory urged Boris Johsnon to compromise. He said: “It seems much of the argument seems to distil down to the UK wanting the right to do something it would never want to do, and the EU wanting to prevent something that it knows is never going to happen. Given that, Scotland’s place in the Union cannot be acceptable collateral damage.”

He adds: “The trend in Scottish politics has been clearly established for a year or two. For those with the Union at heart, the prospect of a second independence referendum with a trend towards majority support for ‘yes’ needs to be arrested and reversed.

John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, told the paper there was no guarantee that a no deal Brexit could lead to a boost in support for independence. 

He said: “But in truth if the UK does leave without a deal much will depend on the extent of the disruption that occurs in January and beyond and, crucially, who voters decide to blame.

“We can anticipate that Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon will lock horns on this issue in the new year, and while Nicola Sturgeon has the advantage that she is speaking to a largely pro-Remain electorate, there is no guarantee as to who will get the better of the argument.”