Poor are the real losers in vote row
IT’S safe to say that every footballing pun about Tory Douglas Ross that could be made has been made, so I’ll save you the pain.
The MP for Moray is a politician by day and a football referee by night and at weekends.
Last week saw him miss a vote so he could run the line at a Champions League game.
The vote he missed was on universal credit. That’s the welfare system that simplifies lots of benefits.
A good idea that the Tories are screwing up spectacularly by screwing over the poorest people, often leaving them for several weeks without any cash at all.
When the opposition debate in Parliament came round, Labour and SNP MPs alike stood up and detailed the hardship their constituents faced with the new system.
The Tories knew they were in trouble so decided in extra time to abstain.
So Labour, the SNP and others won the vote 299 to nil. A Barcelona vs East Fife scoreline. A thumping victory.
Or not as it happens, because the vote doesn’t mandate or bind the government to do anything.
So let’s get this right. First we were mad that Ross didn’t turn up to punish poor people by voting with his Tory chums.
Then we were mad that he didn’t turn up to neither vote for or against universal credit in a vote that doesn’t actually help a single poor person in need.
If Ross makes the cut in the refereeing world, he might be the only Scot in the World Cup in Russia next year. That is surely something to be proud of?