Brexit shambles is about one thing.. keeping Tories in power

THIS week in Westminster is a big one for Scotland – in fact, what happens in the next couple of days will have ramifications for Scotland that could last a lifetime.

MPs are voting on the legislation which will take us out of the European Union and at the moment, it stands to completely override the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

The UK Government bill, as it stands, unbelievably ignores the fact Scotland voted for a Scottish Parliament in 1997. Instead, the bill is written so that powers moving from Brussels go straight to Westminster instead of Holyrood.

The SNP have tabled amendments to the UK Government’s EU withdrawal bill to protect the Scottish Parliament from this power grab and Labour and the Lib Dems in Westminster must now join us in defending devolution against the Tories.

The position of the SNP Scottish Government, as well as those of the Scottish Parliament – could not have been made more clearly to Theresa May.

Nicola Sturgeon and SNP colleagues have been making the case vehemently and in the Scottish Parliament – a vote by the SNP, Labour, Greens and Lib Dems refused to give consent to Westminster for this damaging legislation.

A failure by the UK Government to amend the legislation in light of the Scottish Parliament’s view would be a breach of the devolution settlement. The Tories think they can do whatever they want to Scotland and get away with it.

The SNP have been campaigning hard against the Tory Government’s shambolic Brexit. We want to stay in the single market and customs union – because that will give our economy the best protection. Instead, we are facing a Brexit cliff-edge where jobs and household incomes are starting to be hit. Brexit is now all about keeping the Tories in

I WAS really pleased to see the latest polling, which showed the SNP would gain an additional eight seats if there was a Westminster election.

It’s an extraordinary endorsement for the SNP, particularly after 11 years in government. The poll showed support for independence also remained firm.

Myself and my colleagues will never take our support for granted though, and we’ll continue to work hard and set our sights higher still at both Holyrood and Westminster.

power, no matter what it takes. It is about their desire to take back control – for themselves. The Scottish Tories have been showing their true selves in their failure to stand up for Scotland at Westminster.

It takes a special kind of arrogance to pursue a policy that is supported by only one of Scotland’s five political parties and less than a quarter of the members of the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell is the first in history to have sought to lessen the say people in Scotland have over their own affairs. He is supposed to be Scotland’s man in London but whenever the UK Government take a major decision, he’s not invited to the table – and whenever the UK Government make a decision that goes against Scotland’s interests, he goes into hiding rather than doing his job of challenging it.

Scotland voted overwhelmingly for a Scottish Parliament and, for my generation, its influence in our daily lives is a given. Yet the Tories – who haven’t even won a democratic mandate from the people of Scotland for more than 60 years – are planning constraints on Holyrood’s existing powers without consent. It would be a democratic outrage.

This week, we will make clear that a failure to amend this bill and to listen to the views of the Scottish Parliament will be a decision that will haunt the Tories for generations.