SCOTLAND has been repeatedly "ignored, outvoted, or overruled" in the House of Commons, the SNP leadership claimed last night, as the first parliamentary year of the current Tory administration came to an end this week.
The party has published a list of 12 key decisions which SNP Westminster leader Angus Roberston said were imposed against the wishes of the Scottish electorate, which overwhelmingly rejected the Tories. The party said the list underscored that Scotland "voted for centre-left parties but got a right-wing Tory government".
Read more: Brexit alone will not deliver Scottish independence, warns SNP MEP Alyn Smith
Robertson said the prospect of Scotland being pulled out of the EU against its will was part of a worsening "democratic deficit".
He also claimed the "imposition" of austerity on Scotland despite almost all Scottish MPs opposing the was an affront to democracy.
Roberston said that SNP MPs had provided the main opposition to the Tories, and "brought into sharp focus the deep differences that exist between the progressive values and outlook of Scotland and the right-wing Tory politics that dominate at Westminster".
The party also cited restrictions on trade union activity and the decision to retain Trident, when Scottish Secretary David Mundell was the only MP from Scotland to vote for renewal.
Robertson went on to highlight the bombing of Syria, support for child refugees, more powers for Holyrood, votes at 16, and restrictions on the rights of immigrants, as areas where Scotland’s "progressive position has been overruled" by the Tory government.
The Moray MP said that such decisions were "making a mockery" of the pledges by the main Unionist parties during the 2014 independence referendum that Scotland would be treated as an ‘equal partner’ in a ‘family of nations’ if it voted to remain in the UK.
He said: “Scotland faces a deep, growing and increasingly obvious democratic deficit at Westminster as our politics continue to diverge from the rest of the UK. While SNP MPs are working hard to ensure Scotland’s voice is heard, to protect our interests, and to provide strong, united and effective opposition to the Tory government, there have been far too many occasions where on the big issues Scotland is being ignored, outvoted or overruled, and Tory policies are simply being imposed.
“We saw it at the General Election, when Scotland voted overwhelmingly for centre-left parties only to be lumbered once again with a right-wing Tory government with absolutely no mandate in Scotland. We saw it at the budget, where the UK government imposed austerity and draconian welfare cuts against Scotland’s wishes – taking funds away from public services, communities and families, the poorest and most vulnerable in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires – a policy completely incompatible with Scotland’s progressive values and outlook."
Robertson said Scots were being further towards backing independence as a result of the tension.
Read more: The summer of independence starts here: Yes movement set to take the lead as SNP delays over Brexit
“Despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly to remain in the EU the UK government wants to drag us out. Despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly against wasting billions on Trident nuclear weapons they are being dumped on the Clyde for another fifty years.Time and time again Scotland’s view has simply been ignored.
“We opposed the bombing of Syria, but the UK government went ahead anyway. We voted to protect our fair share of vulnerable child refugees but the UK government chose to walk by instead. We opposed restrictions on trade unions and workers’ rights, but our view was brushed aside.
“We were told in the run up to the independence referendum that Scotland would be treated as an ‘equal partner’ in a ‘family of nations’ if we voted to remain in the UK but we now know that nothing could be further from the truth.
“The SNP will continue to make Scotland’s voice heard for as long as we remain attached to Westminster, but if the UK government and Westminster parties continue to act against Scotland’s wishes as they are - they shouldn’t be surprised when the Scottish people conclude independence is the only viable option.”
A UK Government spokesperson, in response, said: "In 2014 people in Scotland voted decisively to remain in the UK. The UK Government is a government for the whole of the country, listening and responding to the concerns of the Scottish people. That includes devolving a raft of powers to the Scottish Parliament through the Scotland Act 2016, delivering in full the letter and the spirit of the Smith Commission."
The 12 Betrayals
1 The General Election
2Austerity
3 EU Membership
4Trident
5Bombing Syria
6Welfare reforms
7Worker’s rights
8The refugee crisis
9Powers for Scotland
10Investigatory Powers
11 Immigration
12 Votes at 16
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel