THE leaders of both Scottish Labour and the Scottish LibDems have rejected attempts by the Tories to form an election alliance, Douglas Ross has said.
The Tory leader has made repeated public attempts to form an alliance with the other pro-Union parties in Scotland but after his performance at the leaders' debate on Tuesday, it's likely other party leaders don't think much of his ability to lead any sort of alliance.
One notable point in the debate was when Labour leader Anas Sarwar told Ross to "grow up" when the Tory leader brought up "petty politics" during a serious discussion on hate directed towards politicians.
During the debate, Ross managed to bring up the subject of independence almost every time he opened his mouth.
READ MORE: WATCH: Anas Sarwar tells Douglas Ross to 'grow up' at BBC leaders' debate
While the other pro-Union party leaders did mention another referendum during the debate, they were much more focused on detailing specific policies they wanted to implement in Holyrood's next parliamentary term.
Ross has now revealed that private attempts to form an alliance with both Sarwar and LibDem leader Willie Rennie have been rebuffed after he suggested the parties sign up to three pledges ahead of the poll.
He asked both leaders to publicly say they will not support another independence referendum, they will not work with another party that supports a second referendum and promise to work with pro-UK parties in Holyrood to “force out” the SNP if the numbers allow.
Nicola Sturgeon said during the leaders' debate that during her time as First Minister she had worked with all the political parties on various matters, apart from the Scottish Tories. Ross replied that he would never work with a party that was trying to "separate our country".
Ross said: “I’ve tried. I set out a very clear set of three commitments that we could all sign up to and Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats refused to do that – they turned down my offer."
READ MORE: 'He needs to do better': Unionists unhappy with Douglas Ross's debate performance
“I agree with Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats and other parties that we need to focus on our recovery, we need to focus on the NHS during this health crisis.”
He also said he was open to potentially standing down candidates in marginal seats in an attempt to shore up the pro-union vote, but such a move is now “off the table” after Wednesday’s candidate deadline passed.
He added: “The Alba Party were launched on Friday and I can see that as a real threat in this election, that it becomes dominated yet again by another independence referendum."
The Moray MP said he wants to stop an SNP majority and that the other pro-Union parties "don’t see that as being as big a threat as I do".
Scottish LibDem campaign chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: “Douglas Ross has not spoken to Willie Rennie once since he was appointed leader.
“The fact that he is making up such a story shows that he is not capable of bringing people together.
“Shouting through a megaphone on TV doesn’t count.”
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