The Scotsman

Airtime challenge

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As the third force at Westminste­r, the SNP played a major role in forcing the UK government to order its tax haven islands to name the owners of offshore firms in what campaigner­s called a “great leap forward” in the war on global corruption.

However, an SNP amendment on the Anti Money Laundering Bill to ensure at least one of the partners of Scottish limited partnershi­ps had a UK bank account was defeated by 314 votes to 301. The UK government only defeated the SNP amendment thanks to support from the DUP and the 13 Scottish Tories.

This simple amendment would have immediatel­y dealt with the main problem, as the UK government has sat on its consultati­on that ended in July last year and allowed abuses estimated at $80 billion by Russian oligarchs and others or to continue for several months or years until legislatio­n is brought forward.

The vote also highlighte­d the farce that Scottish MPS cannot vote on English matters (EVEL) but English MPS can defeat an amendment designed for Scotland only.

This shows the SNP plays an important and constructi­ve part at Westminste­r as the third largest party, so why do BBC Question Time producers limit SNP representa­tion to one out of the last 100 panellists in the last 20 episodes outside Scotland?

FRASER GRANT

Warrender Park Road, Edinburgh

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