Scottish Lib Dems Claim Tories 'In Retreat'

Former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott has said that the Conservatives are in retreat in Scotland.

Former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott has said that the Conservatives are in retreat in Scotland.

It comes after a leaked Conservative memo published last week revealed that the party had dramatically scaled down its prospects to only two seats in the upcoming General Election.

Mr Scott today said that the Conservatives’ 'letter of surrender' shows that only Liberal Democrat MPs can stop the SNP gaining all seats in Scotland in a bid to secure independence by the back door.

 Speaking on the day of the Scottish Conservative conference, Tavish Scott said: "In a leaked memo of seats which Conservatives had chosen not to target which recently came to light, the Conservative retreat from Scotland was remarkable.

"Their revealing letter of surrender shows that even the Scottish Conservatives know they are not at the races in this election.

 "Long held target seats of Gordon, Edinburgh West, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, North East Fife and more have been ditched by the Conservative party, who have all but shut up shop and retreated to defend their single seat of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.

 "Only the Conservatives could retreat to one seat.

He went on: "Only Liberal Democrat MPs can stop the SNP gaining all seats in Scotland in their bid to secure independence by the back door.

"This is serious because the SNP in the Scottish Government put local services at risk when they took their eye off the ball on day-to-day issues in order to concentrate on their campaign for independence.

"Cancer treatment targets were missed, college places closed and the NHS went into crisis.

"The Liberal Democrats have both the commitment to devolution and the influence at Westminster to ensure Scotland gets the powers we have been promised. Only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted with both a strong economy and a fair society, ensuring decent public services and opportunity for all."