Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has confirmed he will not be attending the First Minister’s summit on the challenge of populism in Scottish politics.
John Swinney invited all Scotland’s political leaders to next Wednesday’s the event, which aims to counter the rise of challenge from parties such as Reform UK.
The SNP leader wants to bring people from across Scotland’s mainstream together “to protect Scottish values”. At a briefing in February he said it was time to “draw a line in the sand” against “a politics of fear”.
However, Mr Findlay says Mr Swinney has failed to meet the conditions he requested for attending the meeting.
He has written again to the First Minister saying he agrees that racist hatred has no place in Scotland, but does not require a summit as this is “a position on which we are already aligned”.
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Mr Findlay, who earlier accused Mr Swinney of hypocrisy, says it is “disappointing that you have failed to address my reasonable requests, which are to stop seeking to split up our country, stop pushing gender self-ID policies and give a commitment to being transparent and truthful with the Scottish public.
“These are consistent with your summit’s stated purpose of tackling ‘polarising forces’ in politics. If you wish to unite the country you should begin by addressing these concerns, which the majority of people across Scotland share.
“As you are not prepared to do that, I am therefore left to conclude that this summit is designed to deflect attention from your party’s dismal record and for these reasons I will not be able to attend.”
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