The Conservatives are running a “despicable” campaign which threatens the future of the United Kingdom, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has claimed.
Willie Rennie hit out at strategies by his party’s former coalition partners which he said have used former First Minister Alex Salmond to “demonise” Scots during a television interview.
However, he was slammed by Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson for saying he would do a deal with the SNP at Holyrood as she “absolutely” ruled out supporting the Nationalists if they fail to win a majority in next year’s Scottish Parliament election.
Attacking the Conservative campaign tactics, Mr Rennie said: “What they are doing is festering English nationalism to get a few more grubby votes.”
However, despite the Lib Dems having ruled out being involved in a coalition with Labour that would rely on the SNP for support at a UK level, Mr Rennie said they could potentially work together in Edinburgh.
He said: “We can find common ground at a local level and in the Scottish Parliament. The reality is that you could not put the SNP in charge of a country they’re against.”
That led to strong criticism from Ms Davidson, whose predecessor Annabel Goldie worked with the nationalists in the Scottish Parliament between 2007 and 2011 when they were in minority administration, using negotiations to see Tory policies put in place.
Ms Davidson said: “Given how close the SNP took our country to the brink I will not be doing a deal with them after 2016, absolutely not.”
She stressed no formal or informal deals would take place under her leadership, adding: “A future leader of the Scottish Conservatives, they can make their own decisions, but this is the decision I make.”
Ms Davidson also called Mr Rennie’s comments “astonishing”.