SNP made Scotland a ‘stagnation nation’, says Scottish Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher at Aberdeen conference

Scotland has become a “stagnation nation” under the SNP, with the future of the country now “on the line” in this year’s general election, the Tory’s deputy leader at Holyrood has warned.

Meghan Gallacher said that after 17 years, the SNP “has left Scotland in a rut”.

Addressing her party’s conference, she insisted it was only the Tories who can “beat the SNP and take Scotland forward”.

With an election almost certain to take place this year, Gallacher warned: “The future of Scotland is on the line.

“Under the SNP, we are a stagnation nation.”

Right across Scotland, people are sick and tired of SNP incompetence and neglect.

The Scottish Conservatives are working hard to deliver our alternative vision to deliver on your real priorities and take Scotland forward.@MGallacherMSP #SCC24 pic.twitter.com/2Iec1aic9m
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) March 1, 2024

Attacking the SNP-led Government over its record, she claimed the education system resulted in children “leaving primary school not being able to read and write” while saying businesses now face a “struggle to keep their doors open because the SNP have made Scotland the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom”.

She went on to complain that issues with healthcare meant Scots faced a “struggle” to get a face-to-face appointment with their GP, while claiming that in the justice system “the perpetrator of a crime is favoured over the victim”.

Gallacher insisted: “The fact is, the SNP has no idea how to fix these problems – they have simply run out of ideas.”

The Tories, she said, were “offering something different” to voters on key issues such as education, justice, the economy, and health.

She went on attack the Greens, who are in government with the SNP at Holyrood, with Gallacher suggesting if they are allowed to remain in government “our present will be a misery and the next generation of Scots will be pushed all the wrong values”.

With the Greens in Government, the Tory said: “In our schools, children will be force-fed gender ideology and asked intrusive questions about sex and relationships, when kids should just be left to be kids.

“And aspiration and hard work will be taxed to the point where its just not worth anything anymore.”

Gallacher said: “This is not a future I want for my daughter.

“And the Scottish Conservatives will fight tooth and nail to stop dangerous green ideologies from entering our schools and workplaces.”

She went on to challenge First Minister Humza Yousaf to call time on the powersharing deal, saying: “The Bute House Agreement, the nationalist coalition between the Greens and the SNP, needs ripped up.

“The Greens need to be sent back to the extreme fringes of our politics where they belong.”