THE new Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has only been in the job a couple of days, but he has already shown both why the party hierarchy was so keen to crown him as successor to the eminently forgettable Douglas Wossisname.
He also showed why he'll be just as unsuccessful at reversing his party's misfortunes, even though the biggest misfortune is for the rest of us in having to deal with their politics of temper tantrums.
Findlay announced that henceforth the Scottish Tories will block any attempts to debate independence in the Scottish Parliament, representing a new and radical departure from their previous policy of trying to block any attempts to debate independence in the Scottish Parliament. New leadership, eh?
Within a couple of days of becoming the latest Scottish Tory who is contractually obliged to make a fool of himself by pretending he's got a chance of becoming first minister.
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Russell was off to the exercise in mass delusion that is the Tory party conference, where he addressed a meeting on the future of the Union to which no one in the Tory party apart from him could be bothered to attend. He told an empty room that the dream of independence is dead, although irony certainly isn't.
The only dead thing on display was the willingness of the Conservatives to develop a case for this so-called Union that Russell claims is so important to them.
There's your problem right there Russell, you've been given the job of defending something that even your own party can't be bothered with. Tory party delegates were far more interested in going to attend a meeting addressed by Liz Truss.
Findlay had to apologise for backing Liz Truss in 2022 when she was campaigning to succeed Boris Johnson.
So at least Russell is reality adjacent, and doubtless, that's why the Scottish Tory establishment was so keen to install him as leader since had they left it to the membership, they'd have chosen a gibbering far-right fantasist who is convinced that the Bank of England and the international money markets are controlled by a cabal of woke transgender Marxists who brought down her government.
Naturally, she refused to accept that her own incompetence, right-wing ideological extremism and arrogant stupidity had anything to do with her being the shortest serving prime minister in British political history.
It speaks volumes about the current state of the Tory party that an audience with Truss was one of the best attended events at their conference.
Party members flocked to the feet of Truss, to lap up her message that her far-right fundamentalist free market policies are the one true path, and all that is standing in the way of a free-market capitalist utopia are those pesky lefties with their insistence that poor people are deserving of dignity.
Truss stood at the general election whereupon she lost her safe Tory seat despite having a majority of 26,000.
She refused to give a concession speech. For some reason, Conservatives are still listening to her.
There's no drug more powerful than denial of reality, Findlay has been ingesting industrial quantities of it. Although to be fair that's an essential requirement when you are leader of the Scottish Tories, it's the only way you can counter the sheer pointless futility of your existence and get up in the morning to go to work.
The assisted dying bill currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament may be outwith the legal competence of Holyrood under the Scotland Act, according to Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray.
The Health Secretary has said that issues relating to end-of-life drugs are reserved to Westminster and are not under the control of MSPs, meaning that a Section 30 from Westminster may be required in order to get the bill through the Scottish Parliament, according to the Daily Record.
Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur has introduced the bill which aims to introduce the right to assisted death for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
Under the proposals in the bill, two doctors would have to independently confirm the person meets the necessary criteria and the individual would have to sign a written declaration stating that they sought assistance to end their life.
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The Health Secretary said that a passage in the bill which gives ministers powers to specify which drugs could be used to end a life was of "particular concern". This is because the provision “appears to relate to the reserved matter of medicines, medical supplies and poisons”. He also said other parts of the bill “may” be reserved to Westminster, such as allowing ministers to state the qualifications of medical practitioners who can be part of the process.
Although McArthur has reportedly had “constructive” talks with the Scotland Office, The Health Secretary said temporarily allowing Holyrood to legislate in these areas via a section 30 order may be required.
In a submission to the Holyrood Health Committee on behalf of the Government, Gray wrote: “In the Scottish Government’s view, the bill in its current form is outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.”
He added: “It should be noted that the process for such an order generally takes 12 to 18 months and would require the co-operation of the UK Government, as it requires the approval of both Houses at Westminster, as well as the Scottish Parliament, before it is made by His Majesty in Council.”
He also said that ministers and MSPs would have a free vote on the bill when it comes before Holyrood and the Scottish Government intends to remain neutral at this stage.
The hurdles encountered by this bill are another illustration of the limits of devolution and the need for Scotland to obtain Westminster's permission in order to pass legislation that makes such a profound difference to the choices available to Scots who are living with life limiting illness.
This piece is an extract from today’s REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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