"Use it or lose it" urges leader of Scottish Tories

Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson has raised concerns more supporters of the "Yes" side will turn out to vote than those backing the opposite camp.

In a speech in Nairn, the Glasgow MSP urged pro-union supporters to go out and persuade as many "No" people as possible to vote in September.

She made the rallying cry to an 80-strong meeting of the Conservative Friends of the Union.

“People on our side do recognise that folk who believe in independence are going to make sure they go out and vote,” she said.

“What we have to do is make sure that our people don’t give up their chance. At the end of the day, it could come down to one vote, and that could be the UK finished forever.”

Ms Davidson is using the parliamentary recess to take her message out on the road.

During her visit to Nairn she handed out car stickers and Better Together brochures and spoke to pro-union voters about how best to spread the "No" message.

“In Scotland we don’t really talk about politics that much,” she said. “This is about giving people the confidence to have those conversations. It’s all about them going off and speaking to people they know.

"People need to understand this decision will not just affect their lives but their children’s lives and their grandchildren’s lives. This is enormous and it is irreversible.”

Ms Davidson also spoke on the NHS, rejecting claims by the SNP that only an independent Scotland could protect the NHS from privatisation.

She said a recent survey showed 93 per cent of doctors wanted to keep Scotland as part of the NHS.

“It crosses borders,” she said. “You can get a specialist without having to queue in London. My sister is a heart specialist in Newcastle. She sees Scottish patients all the time.”

And often-cited Better Together campaign literature claims any move towards privatisation of the NHS in England would have no effect at all on Scotland’s health budget.

However, the Scottish health minister Alex Neil visited Wick with a stark warning last week.

Mr Neil claimed only an independent Scotland could safeguard the future of the health service and protect it from Westminster's looming budget cuts.

He said: "Under independence we would be able to decide what resources go into the health service in Scotland. At the moment, we rely on a decision being made in London about how much money is going into the health service in England and we’re ring-fencing the equivalent.

"But the actual amount decided there, because of the cuts in London, means that the health service is badly affected.”

He added: “We would want to make that decision about putting more money into health and into education rather than having £25 billion of additional cuts, because that is what Westminster has promised."

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.