(Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)
Kemi Badenoch has opened the door to reforming the Scotland Act to stop MSPs blocking UK Government priorities including new nuclear power stations.
The Conservative leader said her party wanted its MSPs to examine how devolved powers are being used.
Earlier this month, a source close to Ms Badenoch told the Daily Mail the party would review the Scotland Act and consider stripping powers from Holyrood if that would "ensure better governance of the UK".
Read more
- Edinburgh councillor calls for referendum on major council boundary changes
- Why Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative comeback may struggle north of the Border
- Endless EU debate is a distraction - focus on what matters
Asked about the review, Ms Badenoch insisted there was no firm plan.
"We've just been talking about a review. There's no review plan, so this isn't policy. What we do know is that there are certain problems which are requiring some additional intervention. Those are the sorts of things which are not what was intended by the Scotland Act.
"[Shadow Scottish Secretary] Harriet Cross and I, for instance, were talking about the SNP using devolved powers to interfere with reserved policy, using planning, for instance, to stop new nuclear.
"Those are the sorts of things which are not what was intended by the Scotland Act. But what we want to focus on is fixing problems and sorting problems, and where we think we need an intervention for specific problems, we would look at how we can do so. "
Although energy is largely reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government effectively has a veto on developments through planning regulations.
Ms Badenoch said: "If they are using planning policy to stop reserved energy policy, that is a problem, and we need to look at how we fix those problems, rather than just shrug our shoulders and say, 'Oh well, it's devolved. We can't do anything. This computer says no.' I don't think it's good enough. We should find a way."
"Devolution is a process,” she added. “It's not a religion which we should worship. This is a process. If a process isn't working, how can you improve the process rather than just say 'the process is there, there's nothing we can do'. We are about solutions."
Ms Badenoch was also pushed on John Swinney's call for the UK Government to set out a route to a second referendum.
"I think that it is yet another terrible idea from John Swinney, who, quite frankly, like the rest of the SNP, has run out of ideas. "
She added: "All he talks about is independence. He doesn't know how to make people healthier. He can't improve their education. We have more people than ever dying from drug deaths right here in Glasgow.
"What's John Swinney doing about that? Nothing except independence.. He is a broken record. He's run out of ideas. Quite frankly, he and his party need to take a good look at themselves and ask what is the point of us, because there is no point. "
Asked whether unionist parties should come together to tell a positive story about the Union, she turned on Scottish Labour.
"I do think that the other parties may say that they're unionists, but they don't act like they're unionists. Last time I checked, Labour's leader in Scotland was saying that he was very open to having a referendum.
"That's not what a unionist party should be saying."
With council elections due next year, The Herald asked whether Tory councillors would be free to do deals with Labour, the SNP, the Greens or Reform.
Ms Badenoch said local decisions would ultimately rest with councillors.
"If we can't win, then we look at where people have conservative policies or policies that conservatives can support. It is about what they're doing, not about which party they're in. Conservatives have worked with every party, as far as I can tell."
Read more
- Could Kemi Badenoch follow Margaret Thatcher’s path to power with the Conservatives?
- Home truth - Tory tax plan will stagnate the housing market
- Scotland handing out 23,000 antidepressants a day — 20 years after vow to halt rise
She added: "We've worked with Labour, with Lib Dems, with Greens, even in the past, and even helped Reform out with one or two things."
"What I trust is that the people who we have as councillors are good people who can make a judgement call on what kind of people they are working with.
"We had an issue with the Greens where they were not the kind of Greens who are focused on the environment, and instead they're more focused on antisemitism. We don't work with those sorts of Greens, so they make a judgement call.
"The difference is, as a party leader, I trust the people who are in our party.
"We have very high standards. Reform and others don't, which is why they they have this scandal unfolding with people saying all sorts of appalling things. Nigel Farage has done the spring cleaning, taking a lot of bad people out of the Conservative Party, and we are here to do what's right for the public. "