RUTH Davidson should be aware of the old adage ‘careful what you wish for’.

Week after week, day after day given the opportunity, the Scottish Conservative leader tells Nicola Sturgeon to abandon plans for a second referendum and get on with the day job.

It has to be said she is more interested in the first part of that statement.

She has fought a General Election campaign on nothing else but opposition to a second referendum.

It was a relatively successful strategy, winning the Tories 13 seats and returning them to elected office in parts of the country where they used to enjoy success but were also rans for decades.

It worked in the Glasgow Council elections too gathering support among no voters.

While some council candidates argued on local issues in the wards, Ruth Davidson was banging on day after day about sending Nicola Sturgeon a message.

In the General Election she hardly mentioned anything else.

And in the days since the election she has continued the theme.

At First Ministers Questions this week the Conservative leader was at it again.

Ms Davidson assumes that every person who did not vote SNP did so because they were opposed to a referendum.

While it was obviously a factor, the General Election was not a referendum on another referendum.

Is it not possible that those who voted Labour for example did so because they agreed with the policies put forward by Jeremy Corbyn?

That people responded to an anti-austerity message that could be implemented across the UK.

Is it not possible that some Conservative voters voted Tory because they backed Theresa May for Prime Minister over Mr Corbyn?

The SNP are often accused of being a single issue party. That only independence matters and every decision taken is with a view to achieving that aim.

That may well be true but Ruth Davidson is fast becoming a single issue leader. Increasingly she has little to say on anything other than opposition to independence.

If her party is to keep hold of the support is had attracted from people in recent years it must look beyond the constitution.

Ruth Davidson will have to come out from behind the Union Jack and articulate Conservative policies that will improve our public services, up standards in our schools, provide quality, well paid sustainable jobs and create a more socially just country.

Every policy pursued by the Westminster government just now is hampering ambition on all of those fronts.

Austerity is hitting the poorest hardest, spending cuts are affecting education and the health service and the Tory created Brexit will have serious implications for jobs.

Just like Ukip after the EU referendum, people realised there was no need for the party and it lost support

If Nicola Sturgeon does take another independence referendum off the table, people may begin to ask what is the point of Ruth Davidson?

Careful what you wish for.