Opinion by Councillor Euan Blockley

TWO weeks ago I dedicated my column to discussing the divisiveness that another independence referendum would bring.

The result last week showed that although the SNP gained the majority of seats, they still did not receive the majority of votes.

More than 1.46 million Scots voted for Unionist parties at this election compared to 1.24m that voted for independence-supporting parties. This just emphasises not only that there is a Unionist majority in Scotland, but that our nation is still deeply divided on this issue.

Therefore, the Prime Minister was right to reject Nicola Sturgeon’s latest demands for another go at a referendum that Scots simply do not want.

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The result across the UK was altogether a positive one. We now have a majority government which will bring stability and certainty, two things we have lacked in the past three years. Many in Scotland will be breathing a sigh of relief that the constant bickering and arguing over Brexit will soon cease. The markets have picked up on this too with a sharp rise in the pound, now at a 19-month high, and the FTSE is rising

as well.

Labour’s demise across the country has been analysed to death at this point, which is quite ironic given the circumstances. Much like the SNP, they told voters that they would need to vote again on a “once-in-a-generation” issue and they rightly showed Mr Corbyn the door.

The promises of free unicorns to every household did not wash with voters who have seen this happen before. The British public, by and large, know the dangers that a far-left socialist government would bring, and no amount of scaremongering about our NHS being sold to Donald Trump could change that.

In Scotland, we lost some great Scottish Conservative MPs. I have personally worked closely with one of them, Stephen Kerr, who will be a tremendous loss to the people of Stirling and to the House of Commons. I wish them all the very best for the future.

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My party will be sending six talented and hardworking MPs to Westminster and I have no doubt that they will work incredibly hard for their communities and always stand up for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom.

It’s time for our nation to move on from the arguments of the past and to look forward to a bright and prosperous future outside of the European Union. In the words of the Prime Minister: it’s time for the healing to begin.