Scots unionist voters are being urged by Kemi Badenoch to unite to help stop the SNP ‘tearing our country apart’.

As postal voting gets underway, the Conservative leader launched an appeal to back her party on the regional list ballot paper to prevent John Swinney securing a majority and trying for another independence referendum.

She also launched an attack on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, saying they ‘don’t give a monkey’s about the Union’.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who played an instrumental part in persuading Scots to reject independence in 2014, also makes her first intervention in this year’s election campaign with an article in today’s Mail urging voters to act to prevent an SNP majority and end its push for another referendum.

It comes as John Swinney will tomorrow launch the SNP’s manifesto by urging voters to give him a mandate to deliver independence.

The Scottish Tories stepped up the push for votes on the peach ballot as nearly one million Scots begin to receive their postal ballots.

Speaking ahead of a visit to Edinburgh tomorrow, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Make no mistake, the SNP remain completely obsessed with tearing our country apart.

‘John Swinney has been very clear he will use a majority in the Scottish Parliament to press ahead with another divisive referendum.

‘The Conservatives are the only party prepared to stand up to this threat. Reform don’t give a monkey’s about the Union. They will try and win at any cost, even if that means diluting the Unionist vote and standing pro-independence candidates.

‘That’s why I am calling on all pro-UK voters to come together to stop an SNP majority in this vital Holyrood election. The way to do that is to vote Scottish Conservative on the peach ballot.’

At the end of last year, 858,000 people in Scotland – or 19.4 per cent of the electorate – had registered for postal voting for the Scottish Parliament elections.

Returning Officers began sending out ballot papers on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, meaning they will be landing on many doorsteps from today. They can be returned any time up to polling day but many voters opt to send them early.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay yesterday stepped up his party’s regional list push to coincide with the arrival of postal ballots.

He said: ‘As postal ballot papers start to arrive, pro-UK voters must be under no illusions – if the SNP win a majority, which John Swinney reckons is in the bag, they will push relentlessly for another independence referendum.

‘That would spell constitutional chaos for Scotland, with Swinney fixating on breaking up the UK at the expense of tackling the cost-of-living crisis and fixing broken public services.

‘The best way for voters to stop that nightmare scenario is by backing the Scottish Conservatives on their peach ballot paper. It’s the secret weapon to stopping an SNP majority, just as it was in 2016 and 2021.’

During a visit to the Caledonian Marts auctioneers in Stirling yesterday, Mr Findlay said the arrival of postal ballots is a ‘critical moment’ in the campaign.

He claimed other parties ‘want to wish away the threat’ of another independence referendum and condemned Lord Malcolm Offord, Reform’s Scottish leader, for suggesting in Tuesday’s Channel 4 News leaders debate that Mr Swinney wasn’t serious about his push for another independence referendum.

Mr Findlay said: ‘That is such naïve complacency from Lord Offord. The idea that a 60-plus year-old SNP First Minister who has believed in breaking up the United Kingdom since he was a teenage boy isn’t serious about demanding a divisive and damaging referendum would be laughable were it not so terrifying and indeed naïve.

‘Lord Offord should step out of the way and allow us to protect the Union, because he can’t be trusted. 

'He wants to work with nationalists – that’s his own words – he’s fielding pro-independence candidates, he has published a route map towards another divisive referendum and indeed an instruction manual for the SNP about how they can win it. Does that sound like a Unionist to you? It certainly doesn’t sound like that to me.

‘There is no doubt in my mind that Nigel Farage does not care about Scotland, cares even less about the value of the Union, and with a weak Labour Prime Minister and an indifferent Reform who are cosplaying as Unionists there is a huge, huge danger. 

'Because if John Swinney gets that majority he says he is going to get and/or is propped up by the extremist Greens, who also believe in breaking up our country, that is all we will hear about for the next five years – five more years of political paralysis.’

In his SNP manifesto launch speech today, Mr Swinney is expected to say: ‘At this election, I offer experienced and trusted leadership to help Scotland through these tough days.

‘To lead a government that will always be on Scotland’s side. To use all of my energy to improve the lives of the people of Scotland. To give Scotland, with independence, the fresh start our country needs.

‘In this election, I am asking people to give me the mandate to act always with, and for, the people who live here.

‘When I became First Minister, I promised to serve all of the people of Scotland. I reaffirm that promise today and commit to creating the best future I can for our country.’

Responding to Mrs Badenoch’s comments, Reform UK’s Scottish leader Malcolm Offord said: ‘This is the same tired and self-serving message from the Conservatives, who have spent years in opposition taking pro-Union voters for granted while support for the SNP has remained entrenched.

‘Voters in Scotland don’t need more lectures or tactical voting advice, they need a genuine alternative to the SNP and only Reform UK is offering exactly that.’