Vote for Labour and Scotland will lose its voice at Westminster
PEOPLE thinking of voting Labour or for alternative parties to the SNP at the General Election risk a future where Scotland’s voice is no longer heard at Westminster. You can already see with the Speaker debacle that they think we are a fly to be swatted from their presence because we challenge the orthodoxy of English supremacy, their way or no way.
The fact is we have a voice and that is hugely problematic for them, so much so that they seek every possible method to silence Scotland.
Instead of supporting their electorate, Labour wannabes take every opportunity to actively run Scotland down, challenging Scottish Government decisions at Westminster at every possible opportunity in debates about England and the rest of the nations. What Labour want is for Scotland to replicate England.
I share this link to “Delivering progress: 100 top achievements of the SNP in government” for those interested in the specifics of what you will be losing by failing to support the SNP – www.snp.org/ record.
Can you imagine watching PMQ’s at Westminster, where the Government goes unchallenged by your representatives, as currently happens with the SNP MPs, and only hearing questions relating to the whole UK, with Scotland rarely being mentioned the norm?
That will be the result of voting for Labour. Don’t expect any challenge to UK-specific – and by that I mean England and Wales – decisions to be of interest to the Labour government. It will decide, as is currently the situation with the Tory government, on what is best for England and no-one will speak up for Scotland’s interests.
The SNP being the third-largest party at Westminster gives them a much larger voice and privileges as a result, and failing to support them means ultimately your voice will be greatly diluted and your vote become worthless.
If you believe Labour will support you and that you will be transported to a utopia which has the interests of Scotland at heart, think again. The recent addition to Westminster from Scotland has had a swift conversion to mainstream Unionist tropes where Scotland exists only to feed wealth to the rUK and should be seen and not heard.
Christine Smith Troon
SADLY, the last few weeks in politics have highlighted the growth of a consistent trend of verbal abuse, aggression, and use of accusatory language in both the UK and Scottish parliaments.
Westminster has always been a dreadful panto with the braying donkeys displaying schoolboy/girl raucous, juvenile antics. This fiasco has always been an awful reflection of the calibre of MPs we are saddled with. In Westminster it’s all about the toffs, their inherited wealth and titles, their private schools – all far removed from the lives that their constituents lead.
I had hoped Scotland would do it differently and a lot better. That’s not working out! The vicious vitriol of Messrs Ross and Sarwar, not forgetting the Dame, is just as bad as the Westminster panto. Braying and nodding donkeys, rolling their eyes and banging on desks are all now part and parcel of FMQs.
When our Parliament was restored I had such hope that we would see all parties co-operate and collaborate on bringing forward decent policies for all, using the knowledge and expertise of our MSPs to develop and drive forward quality decisions that would improve the lives of folks in Scotland. Forget party politics and focus on consensus politics that brings us together. This is not to be at the moment, as a toxic vibe engulfs the chamber.
The media fuel this division and exploit the point-scoring mantra that has invaded our country.
The panto and the fiasco that are the two parliaments worryingly will not encourage our future generations to consider politics as a career. Treating people the way you would want to be treated would be a decent start.
Jan Ferrie South Ayrshire
I HAVE been back in Scotland for more than three years now and I just have to say this. Some aspects of living here have changed but what hasn’t changed is my conviction that Scotland has the resources and abilities to govern itself without being overlorded by Westminster.
Over many decades, even centuries, Scots have emigrated around the world as inventors and
politicians. American presidents and Canadian prime ministers have been Scots. Scottish engineering feats that still stand today in other countries are world-renowned. Why then would anyone believe that they could not run their own country?
Why anyone in Scotland would vote for a Unionist party today is beyond my understanding. I can only think that too many of those who have never lived anywhere outside of Scotland still suffer from the cultural cringe that has come from centuries of English rule leading many to believe they are less capable than they are of running their own affairs.
I might not see independence in my lifetime but I will support it with my last breath and pray that those still sitting on the fence will think long and hard before handing the country back to Westminster at the next election.
Sheila Wilson Le Mottee via email
LISTENING to Labour MP Michael