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  Courtesy of the Times, she claims not to have leadership ambitions but continually goes against the PM.
  
  
  Ruth Davidson has made a clear pitch for the centre ground of Scottish politics by laying out her plans to embrace increased public spending and more immigration. In a direct challenge to the prime minister, the Scottish Tory leader said last night that foreign students must be removed from migration calculations. In a keynote policy speech Ms Davidson also signalled a break from Tory instincts by calling on Theresa May to halt tax breaks for middle England and inject more money into the NHS.
  
  The Scottish Conservative leader’s more centrist approach was also revealed in the criticism of her own government’s pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. Ms Davidson believes she needs to move her party to the centre if she is to beat Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP and form a government after the 2021 Scottish elections. However, in doing so she risks angering right-wing colleagues. Her speech at Glasgow University contained multiple references to policy under Westminster’s control and will be seen by some senior Conservatives as an attempt to shift the entire party to the centre, not just the wing under her control in Scotland.
  
  Ms Davidson said that the NHS was reaching a tipping point because of an ageing population and the rising costs of treatment. She acknowledged that she was stepping outside her Scottish remit to take a stand on NHS funding across the country but declared: “The simple choice is this: if we want to continue to adhere to the principles of our NHS, then we need to find extra funding above and beyond the increases of recent years. The UK government has acted to reduce the tax burden on working families. It has honoured its promise to do so. Raising the income tax threshold has reduced taxes for millions of UK workers and has taken thousands out of taxation altogether. “But the UK government has a choice to make and, if that choice is between extra spending on the NHS or introducing further tax breaks, I choose the NHS.” Ms Davidson was equally combative on immigration, not only attacking the Conservative government’s commitment to reduce immigration but also criticising Westminster colleagues for failing to revisit it. The Scottish government wants control over migration because of the nation’s different needs.

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