Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher blasted the SNP for dividing Scots with independence and Brexit.
The Scottish Conservative MSP accused Humza Yousaf’s party of having “failed Scotland on so many different accounts” during their 16 years in power.
Ms Gallacher described the First Minister and SNP leader’s plan to use winning a majority of Scottish seats at the next general election as backing for indyref2 as “moving the goalposts”.
She told the Express: “It’s as if they’re not going to achieve what they want to achieve so they’re just going to try and achieve enough to make it look as though they have enough clout to push for another independence referendum.
“But you haven’t seen movement in the polls to suggest that people are even slightly interested in going back to the polls to debate this.
“It pulls people apart talking about Scottish independence, it’s so polarising and it just shows that that’s the only thing the SNP have got left to use.”
The latest YouGov poll put support for the union ahead of breaking up the UK by 53 percent to 47 percent.
Ms Gallacher also accused the nationalist party of using Brexit to “create a wedge”.
Mr Yousaf has set out plans for an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU, while the party’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election candidate claimed Brexit was “really important on the doorstep”.
The Scottish Tory politician said: “It’s ridiculous in my view because we’re now seven years on from the Brexit referendum.
“And we need to remember people from all different political parties voted for Brexit, there was not one party that didn’t have someone vote for Brexit, so it wasn’t a political party issue.
“It was a full UK-wide issue that we all went out to the ballot box to give our say on it and the UK collectively voted for Brexit.
“If the SNP really want to go down that route again and cause more division it just shows them for what they are. It just shows that they’re a divisive party and that’s all they’ve got up their hat, they don’t have any other tricks in the book.”
Ms Gallacher highlighted education and GP waiting lists as examples of SNP failings during their time in power.
She also pointed to legislation making it easier for people in Scotland to change their legally recognised gender, new restrictions on short-term lets and a controversial deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers which has been delayed.
Ms Gallacher said: “I think actually what you’re seeing now as well a lot of Scottish people are opening their eyes and seeing the destruction caused under the SNP.”
She said Mr Yousaf was “100 percent” the puppet of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.
The Scottish Tory deputy leader said: “You saw that from the programme for government that was recently announced.
“Nicola Sturgeon could have written it because it was in her wording, there was nothing really new about it, it was just continuity.
“Humza Yousaf did end up being branded the continuity candidate during the SNP leadership contest, that is absolutely how it’s played out when he’s taken on the First Minister role.”
Ms Gallacher insisted the Scottish Tories are the only party that can be trusted with the Union as she took aim at Labour’s “flip-flopping”.
She said: “It’s something that I will always say and it’s one of the many reasons that I decided to join the Scottish Conservatives was because it was the only party that I could trust to stand up for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom.
“I do believe Labour perhaps needs to have a think about what they stand for because they’ve been flip-flopping on so many different issues. Not just within the Scottish Labour Party, but UK-wide.”
Ms Gallacher said she is feeling “confident” and “positive” about the general election, expected next year, as the Scottish Conservatives look to add to their six MPs.
She said: “We’ve got a really positive message, we’ve recently launched our economic vision and there’s some really good stuff in there that shows the Conservatives are on the side of hard-working Scots and we’re on the side of business as well.
“Obviously we’ll be targeting more seats than what we’ve got at present. I’m feeling confident about it and feeling positive about it and I think that we’ve got a real opportunity to kick out some of the SNP MPs out that have failed to represent their representatives and haven’t stood up for their priorities.”
She added that the Conservative conference in Manchester is an “opportunity for us to put out our priorities which are certainly more aligned with the people of Scotland’s priorities than what the SNP’s are”.
An SNP spokesperson said: “The Tories crashed our economy with their reckless mini budget, dragged Scotland out of the EU against our will and continue to inflict brutal austerity measures on the most vulnerable.
“The SNP will always stand up for Scotland in the face of Westminster negligence and Tory governments we didn’t vote for.”
