First Minister under fire for inaction

FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of “twiddling her thumbs” for failing to push through legislation.

The SNP hasn’t introduced any legislation in the last six months, critics say, though it has put forward a consultation on independence.

Although the party lost its overall majority in May and relies on the Greens to govern, the inaction stands in stark contrast to the opening months of the 2007-11 and 2011-16 Parliaments when the SNP Government introduced three and four bills respectively.

In September, 14 bills were set out for introduction within the year and opponents claim they will now all be rushed out before April. Maurice Golden, the Tories’ deputy chief whip, said: “It is a woeful start to a new administration.

“It is a clear hallmark of a Government that has run out of ideas.

“The First Minister is twiddling her thumbs and focusing all her attention on a referendum on independence that the majority don’t want.”

An SNP spokesman hit back: “The SNP is doing everything we can to protect Scotland from the right-wing hard Tory Brexit which will cost 80,000 Scottish jobs.

“The Tories’ day job is to ignore Scotland’s democratic wishes and impose a disastrous Brexit against the wishes of the people of Scotland.”