Only thing PM is leading is a merry dance

THE defeat of the Tories in the Wakefield & Tiverton and Honiton by-elections ought to have brought some reflection from Boris Johnson and his backers. Two very different seats, in which the PM’s leadership (or lack of it) seems to have weighed heavily in the minds of voters. Instead, we had Johnson’s wild aspiration of governing into the 2030s.

Whether this comes to pass or not, the direction of travel under Westminster is not a great one.

Labour and Tories are now wedded to a Brexit which is piling further damage on to a weak economy and have no plans for dealing with the current cost of living crisis.

The Tory notion of dismantling the Human Rights Act should worry us all.

It’s just the latest in a series of illiberal pieces of law which, like the power grab, chip away at the responsibilities of the devolved administrations.

As always, devolution is an afterthought to Westminster.

When Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy is content to refer to his Scottish Labour colleagues as the branch office and the Scottish Tories are in the throes of another existential crisis, it certainly doesn’t bode well for Scotland’s place in the Union.

It’s more important than ever that Scotland gets the opportunity to re-evaluate our position. For parties without a mandate in Scotland to deny the people of Scotland their say simply isn’t credible.