SNP accuses Westminster of 12 betrayals of Scotland in last 12 months
SCOTLAND has been repeatedly “ignored, outvoted, or overruled” in the House of Commons, the SNP leadership claimed last night, as the first parliamentary year of the current Tory administration came to an end this week. The party has published a list of 12 key decisions which SNP Westminster leader Angus Roberston said were imposed against the wishes of the Scottish electorate, which overwhelmingly rejected the Tories. The party said the list underscored that Scotland “voted for centre-left parties but got a rightwing Tory government”.
Robertson said the prospect of Scotland being pulled out of the EU against its will was part of a worsening “democratic deficit”.
He also claimed the “imposition” of austerity on Scotland despite almost all Scottish MPs opposing it was an affront to democracy.
Roberston said that SNP MPs had provided the main opposition to the Tories, and “brought into sharp focus the deep differences that exist between the progressive values and outlook of Scotland and the right-wing Tory politics that dominate at Westminster”.
The Moray MP said that such decisions were “making a mockery” of the pledges by the main Unionist parties during the 2014 independence referendum that Scotland would be treated as an “equal partner” in a “family of nations” if it voted to remain in the UK.
He said: “Scotland faces a deep, growing and increasingly obvious democratic deficit at Westminster as our politics continue to diverge from the rest of the UK. While SNP MPs are working hard to ensure Scotland’s voice is heard, to protect our interests, and to provide strong, united and effective opposition to the Tory government, there have been far too many occasions where on the big issues Scotland is being ignored, outvoted or overruled, and Tory policies are simply being imposed.
“We saw it at the General Election, when Scotland voted overwhelmingly for centre-left parties only to be lumbered once again with a right-wing Tory government with absolutely no mandate in Scotland.
“We saw it at the budget, where the UK government imposed austerity and draconian welfare cuts against Scotland’s wishes – taking funds away from public services, communities and families, the poorest and most vulnerable in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires – a policy completely incompatible with Scotland’s progressive values and outlook.”
Robertson said Scots were being pushed further towards backing independence as a result of the tension.
“Time and time again Scotland’s view has simply been ignored.
“We were told in the run up to the independence referendum that Scotland would be treated as an ‘equal partner’ in a ‘family of nations’ if we voted to remain in the UK but we now know that nothing could be further from the truth.
“The SNP will continue to make Scotland’s voice heard for as long as we remain attached to Westminster, but if the UK government and Westminster parties continue to act against Scotland’s wishes as they are – they shouldn’t be surprised when the Scottish people conclude independence is the only viable option.”
A UK Government spokesperson, in response, said: “In 2014 people in Scotland voted decisively to remain in the UK. The UK Government is a government for the whole of the country, listening and responding to the concerns of the Scottish people.
“That includes devolving a raft of powers to the Scottish Parliament through the Scotland Act 2016, delivering in full the letter and the spirit of the Smith Commission.”