PM accused of ‘putting party before the country’
SNP MPS brand snap election calltory‘ opportunism’
Hamilton residents look set to go to the polls for the sixth time in three years after Theresa May announced plans for a general election.
Yesterday (Wednesday) MPS in the House of Commons voted in favour of the Prime Minister’s motion calling for a snap election on June 8.
The move means it will be the sixth time voters have been called to the ballot box since the independence referendum of 2014.
Since then, Scots also voted in the UK Parliament election on May 7, 2015, the Holyrood election on May 5, 2016, and the EU referendum on June 23, 2016. Residents are also due to vote in local council elections on May 4.
Hamilton West MP Margaret Ferrier dubbed the election opportunistic.
She said: “Theresa May’s announcement follows her continued denial that she would call a snap election, having previously cited stability and certainty as reasons not to hold one. This massive U-turn shows that she is putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the United Kingdom. It is opportunism, plain and simple.
“The Prime Minister is clearly seizing upon the shambolic state of the Labour Party in an attempt to increase her small majority.
“Between now and June 8 I and my party colleagues will work harder than ever to retain the trust of the Scottish people.”
Lanark and Hamilton East MP Angela Crawley shared her SNP colleague’s sentiments adding: “After months of ruling out a vote, the Prime Minister believes she can remove any opposition to her hard-brexit plans by taking advantage of a disunited Labour Party.
“It’s Theresa May putting the interests of her party above the interests of the country.
“For voters, the choice is clear. Faced with the most right-wing Government since Thatcher, only the SNP will put Scotland first.
“I have been privileged to be the Member of Parliament for Lanark and Hamilton East since May 2015.
“It’s the area in which I grew up, the place I call home, and I am proud to be its representative at Westminster. Since my election, I have worked everyday to repay the trust the electorate placed in me only a few years ago.
“I will seek re-election so that I may continue the job that I have started.”
Labour MSP James Kelly also voiced his opinion this week and said his party will use the opportunity to fight hard in Rutherglen and Hamilton West to win the seat back from the nationalists.
He added: “We have seen the social and constitutional destruction caused by the Tories and the SNP. It’s time for a Labour government which will put the interests of working people first.”