Labour: Will of Holyrood being ignored by Sturgeon
SNP ministers have been accused of ignoring the will of the Scottish parliament five times in ten months – despite calling for Theresa May to ‘respect’ Holyrood’s decisions.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday claimed the ‘will of Scotland’s national parliament must be respected’ as she prepared for a two-day debate on a second independence referendum.
She has insisted the Prime Minister must accept the decision of Holyrood which, with the Scottish Greens backing the SNP, is expected to vote tomorrow in favour of holding another ballot to break up the Union.
But Scottish Labour has put together a dossier which shows the SNP Government has ignored Holyrood’s will on a number of occasions since last May’s elections.
Despite losing votes on issues including the controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, NHS closures, a vote on the Scottish Funding Council and keeping the Highlands and Islands Enterprise the Scottish Government has refused to act. No motion has been ‘binding’ on ministers but, in light of Miss Sturgeon’s warning to Mrs May, this has fuelled criticism of the SNP.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon wakes up every single day thinking of ways to engineer another referendum because leaving the UK is the only thing that matters to her.
‘It isn’t improving education in Scotland; it isn’t lifting children out of poverty; it isn’t giving us a health service fit for the 21st century.’
Miss Dugdale added: ‘The will of the Scottish people was very clearly expressed in 2014. Eighty five per cent of our fellow citizens voted in the first referendum, and they voted by a very clear majority to remain in the United Kingdom.’
Since 2014 Scotland had been left more divided ‘than at any time in our recent history’
Miss Dugdale said: ‘We don’t want to go back to that. Those who voted to leave the UK and the majority who voted to remain in the UK don’t want to go back to the divisions of the past.’
The Labour dossier includes the June 2016 vote – 32 to 29 – to ban fracking in Scotland. However, the SNP has continued its moratorium on the issue, with no decision expected until the end of this year. Last September, MSPs voted to call in government proposals to close or downgrade some NHS services. All opposition MSPs backed the call – but the SNP has yet to do anything.
In November, all opposition MSPs voted to repeal the Act, which came into force in 2012, banning offensive and threatening or sectarian behaviour relating to football. Despite criticism that it wrongly criminalises fans, the SNP has refused to repeal it.
Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘In all of these cases, we are committed to returning to parliament on the issue or, as in the case of the Offensive Behaviour Act, parliament will get the chance to consider proposed legislation once brought forward.’