Over the last first days of the General Election campaign, it has been crystal clear that Scotland’s values are under threat just now and only the SNP can protect what we cherish most.
For 14 years, Scotland’s interests have been repeatedly ignored and insulted by a failed Tory government and, while a Labour Party government after the 4 July looks almost a certainty, Scotland’s prospects within the UK look set to remain the same.
That cannot be acceptable. It’s a sign of a broken political system and one which people should have the right to reject.
The SNP is the only party who will not allow Scotland to be ignored and disrespected at Westminster.
The SNP will make sure Scotland’s priorities are put first at every possible opportunity.
It has only been through action taken by the SNP Scottish Government, and the hard work of SNP MPs in Westminster, that Scotland has taken a stand against the austerity policies of Tory governments content to put profit before people.
From the creation and uplifting of the “game-changing” Scottish Child Payment to free higher and further education and higher funding for the NHS, day by day the SNP is making the lives of everyone who lives in Scotland better, despite limited resources and having to mitigate against Tory austerity and Labour ineffectiveness.
As we enter into another election race, the thought of a choice between the Westminster parties is bleak, a toss-up between a corrupt Tory government that ran the UK’s economy off a cliff, or the Labour Party, who could fill their empty manifesto with the number of pledges they’ve scrapped and are copying the Tories on austerity cuts, Brexit and Trident nuclear weapons.
The mask has long since slipped on Keir Starmer’s Labour who, despite promising change, offers no hope for people in Scotland.
In fact, since he became Labour party leader, Starmer’s Labour party has:
· Backed Tory spending plans that will mean £18 billion of cuts to the NHS and public services
· Conceded there will be no return to the EU or single market, costing Scotland billions of pounds
· Refused to commit to scrapping Tory welfare cuts and the punitive two-child cap, like Starmer promised during his election campaign in 2020
· Scrapped its £28bn green prosperity plan, threatening the UK’s journey to Net Zero
· And refused to devolve employment law to the Scottish Government, which would protect workers’ rights in Scotland from any future UK government
If this litany of screeching U-turns wasn’t damning enough, the Labour Party also looks set to abandon its commitment to scrap tuition fees for university students, something that Scottish Labour MSPs have also hinted at looking to reintroduce, with Senior Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra saying Labour would need to “find a new formula” on university funding.
It doesn’t take a political analyst to tell us what this means for the people in Scotland, who are faced with an incoming Westminster Labour Government who are able to tell us more of what they can’t offer than what they can.
But the SNP know that a better future for Scotland is possible.
By electing SNP MPs this General Election, we can make sure that households across Scotland have a strong voice representing them in Westminster, a voice who will champion the values and priorities of the people of Scotland, and offer the choice of a better future with independence.
We can elect SNP MPs who will continue to fight to scrap the callous rape clause, and always take a stand against punitive Westminster austerity measures.
With SNP MPs in Westminster, we can call out corruption where we see it, and stand up for asylum seekers and refugees against governments who would rather look the other way.
On July 4, voters across Scotland will have their chance to protect Scotland’s values by electing SNP MPs who answer directly to the people of Scotland, not their London bosses.
Labour and the Tories want people in Scotland to choose to stick with the status quo, but we know that Scotland deserves better.
Because Scotland wins when the SNP wins.
Keith Brown is the SNP's Depute Leader and the MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane
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