Scottish independence: Tories target youth vote THE Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said she believes that younger Scots will vote to reject independence in a speech aimed at capturing the youth vote. Speaking in Edinburgh, Ms Davidson claimed that the coming generations were not "limited by historical boundaries" adding: " they certainly can't see the sense or value in drawing a new border between ourselves and are nearest neighbours." Her speech, titled "A Union for the Next Generation" argued that the SNP's argument for independence was out-of-kilter with the modern world. "It does seem oddly out of place in our increasingly interconnected and interdependent world," she said. The proposition that we would progress as a society by building more barriers between people and nations, seems, if anything, downright old fashioned. Nationalists cast themselves as a progressive force, but rather than being driven forward by the tide of history, they are swimming against it. Ms Davidson quoted figures suggesting that the younger portion of the Scottish electorate wanted to maintain the "shared values" of the United Kingdom. A recent study for the Economic and Social Research Council shows that 60 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds plan to stay in the UK, she said. Ms Davidson added: "A clear majority of Scots under the age of 35, and more than half of Scots under the age of 24, reject independence."