Douglas Ross on the defensive over Boris Johnson lobbying 'sleaze' claims

Scottish Affairs committee with Ross accusing Wishart, the chair of the committee, of making biased attacks on the Scottish Secretary while he was giving evidence to MPs in the wake of the Holyrood election. Ross, who is returning to Holyrood as leader of the Scottish Tories, took exception to Wishart bridling Scottish Secretary Alister Jack over the results of the election which saw Nicola Sturgeon returned for a record fourth term.

Ross, who heads to Holyrood as leader of the largest opposition party with 31 Scottish Conservative MSPs, signalled he will not be relying on numbers to stop the SNP’s independence plans. At a press conference to mark his return to the Holyrood chamber, the Moray MP and now list MSP, spelled out why UK cabinet minister Michael Gove was confident the referendum bill would not end up with the UK government taking the Scottish Government to the Supreme Court.

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Join thousands of others in getting the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox.Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross hit the campaign trail in Renfrewshire North and West in a bid to boost candidate Julie Pirone's election chances.As polling day draws ever closer, the pair were out and about in Renfrew over the weekend as Mrs Pirone continued her fight to become the constituency's first Tory MSP.Since the seat was first created in 2011, it has belonged to former SNP MSP Derek

Prime Minister over who paid for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat.

the border with England, to call for supporters of the Union to back his party at next week's Holyrood election to prevent the SNP from winning an overall majority of MSPs. Ross said there was a "very real" danger that Holyrood could be filled with a "supermajority" of pro-independence politicians clamouring for an IndyRef2 to take place in the first half of the next parliament.

Roza Salih - who is top of the party's list in the Glasgow region - said Boris Johnson would have take demands for a second referendum "seriously" if a majority of Nationalists are returned on May 6.Nicola Sturgeon's party is expected to win a huge chunk of the constituency seats up for grabs next week if opinion polls are proved correct.But Holyrood's electoral system means that a party that does well in constituencies does not necessarily replicate that performance on the regional list vote.At

Scottish Lib Dems have produced a mock cheque in Ross’ name which shows the cash windfall he would benefit from. Income tax rates and bands are a matter for the Scottish Parliament, with middle and higher income earners paying more than people south of the border.

Government over claims made by Johnson's former aide, Dominic Cummings, that the PM wanted donors to "secretly pay for the renovation" of his official flat, in a move called "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal" by the ex-Vote Leave campaigner. Asked about the allegations, Wallace said Johnson had paid "out of his own pocket" for the upgrade of the flat in Downing Street.

Boris Johnson was given a loan from a Tory donor to fund a lavish refurbishment as allegations of sleaze swirling around Downing Street.

Conservative UK government is "becoming quite overpowering", Nicola Sturgeon has said.

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The same poll predicts that the Scottish Conservatives will return 32 MSPs, one more than in 2016. However there would still be a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, with the Scottish Greens forecast to return eight MSPs, two more than 2016.Ross said: “It is on a knife edge.

Blackford said: “The excuses just don’t add up. "Last March the Prime Minister and the chancellor had all the time in the world to fix contracts for a cosy club of friends and Tory donors, but didn’t have any time to support the three millions self-employed."“Those three million people didn’t have a David Cameron or James Dyson to text the Prime Minister for them.

National Union of Students leaders' hustings last night where representatives from the main five parties discussed a range of issues. During the argument between Sturgeon and Ross, the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar jumped in to say they weren't setting a good example for young people across the country by shouting at each other.

Ross said: “If it was possible for him to come up north of the border that would be great, but I’m not putting any pressure on him.” He added: “He is also leading the UK effort against a global pandemic and I think people understand in this strange election campaign in terms of the restrictions that we’ve all got to deal with, that it may not be as easy as for the Prime Minister to come.”The move came as Downing Street issued a joint statement from the British and Indian governments cancelling