MP failed his first real tests
I refer to Stephen Kerr MP’s column in the Observer (December 6), criticising the SNP for protesting against his party’s deeply flawed and cruel universal credit policy.
I am very proud to have been part of the demonstration as I was representing constituents who are victims of this vicious Tory policy. Universal credit will see dozens of my constituents go without a single penny over the Christmas period, which is an outright scandal.
Ruth Davidson and Mr Kerr are guilty of one of the biggest cons ever in political history. Earlier this year they bombarded the Stirling constituency with letters warning voters about indyref 2. We all know that this was a cynical smokescreen of what his Tories really stand for, which is hammering the poor and the vulnerable into submission.
Last week, when RBS announced the closure of the Bannockburn branch, I and a few others organised two petitions, one online and one outside of the bank. Combined, these petitions have now over 2300 signatories.
I saw on social media a photo of Mr Kerr standing outside an RBS branch in Stirling, which is not threatened by closure. I am at a loss to understand why he did not join us outside the Bannockburn branch as it is closer to his constituency office. He would have witnessed at first hand the elderly people who are devastated at losing their bank.
RBS is 71 per cent owned by us through the UK Treasury so Mr Kerr must do everything he can do to save it from closure.
Mr Kerr also had his photograph taken supporting a local foodbank. Foodbanks are struggling to cope with referrals as a direct consequence of universal credit. The increased use of foodbanks is a harsh reality of Tory austerity in 2017.
Mr Kerr has been found wanting on universal credit and RBS bank closures, the first real tests he has faced since he became MP.
Both he and the Tory government are living on borrowed time and I predict that this time next year or earlier both will be kicked out of office.
Councillor Alasdair MacPherson, Bannockburn ward