Stop faking outrage and do your jobs

THE talk from the SNP is of a democratic deficit, of a constitutional crisis, of Scotland’s voice not being heard, of Holyrood’s very foundations being rocked by the perfidious Tories and their despicable power grab…

It’s red meat for die-hard fans of politics. And for the average Scot? Just so much pointless heat and light doing nothing to help them hang on to their jobs or balance the family budget.

There is no ‘power grab’ by Westminster. The SNP cannot name a single power currently exercised by Holyrood that is being stripped away.

In fact, many more powers will accrue to Holyrood (and remember, the SNP is struggling to exercise many of the powers it currently has) as the UK exits the orbit of Brussels.

If any voices are not being heard, it is those of the SNP when its MPs voluntarily exile themselves from the House of Commons chamber, as they did with Wednesday’s foolish little stunt.

And there’s worse to come, for Ian Blackford is threatening ‘whatever action is necessary’ to cause problems for the UK Government and ‘frustrate’ its actions. He should have a care. He might be basking in the glow of approval from the zealots in his party and the astonishing endorsement of Nicola Sturgeon (she said she was proud of her MPs) after his five minutes of TV stardom after his walkout.

But that will rapidly fade and the public will not take lightly to a campaign of pointless low-grade guerrilla warfare at Westminster.

Voters know what is going on here. The whole unedifying campaign is designed to shore up the risible idea that an uncaring Tory Government is ignoring Scotland and so the only way to be heard is – surprise, surprise – to unleash Indyref 2.

Everything is always about independence with the Nationalists and it’s pathetically transparent.

After 11 years of SNP rule, Scotland is not the paradise the Nationalists like to pretend.

Soft-touch justice means criminals hold the whip hand; Police Scotland is reeling under huge demands on scant resources and deep budget cuts pending; the NHS swallows more and more money with little improvement for patients; education is a shadow of its former self and transport a daily headache for millions.

Scots want politicians to tackle all these issues. They know they are tough nuts to crack, just as they know that politicians faking outrage over non-existent power grabs and engaging in tactics designed to foul the workings of Parliament are not doing what they were elected to do.