Here’s how we stood up for Scotland at Westminster in 2018

by Grant Costello
Posted on
6 years ago
3 min read

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the ensuing chaos in Westminster, and while the Tories and Labour are caught up in bickering and infighting, the SNP MPs consistently stood up for Scotland.

Here are just a few examples.

Nicola Sturgeon challenged toxic Tory policies on migration

Sajid Javid, Home Secretary, published a long-awaited White Paper, setting out draconian restrictions on migration and concluding that “there should be no medicated route for unskilled labour”.

A wealth of economic and social evidence shows that we thrive thanks to migrants who make Scotland their home, and they’re essential to the smooth running of our public services, agriculture, manufacturing, and more.

After meeting the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, Nicola Sturgeon described the Tory migration policies as “an act of vandalism on Scotland’s economy, communities, NHS and public services”.
Yet again, it shows irrational curbs on migration, against any economic logic, being imposed on Scotland without consultation.

Time and again, we called out Theresa May’s disastrous Brexit deal for the damage it would do to Scotland

The UK government’s own economic analysis, as well as the Scottish Government’s analysis, highlights that Theresa May’s Brexit deal would do significant damage to Scotland’s economy and communities.

It would deprive us of the benefits of EU trade deals, hurt our businesses, and rob us of our hard-won rights.

Theresa May faced widespread criticism over her deal from her own benches, and while the Tories spent several weeks ripping themselves apart, we have been crystal clear: we will not accept any deal that makes Scotland poorer.

We stood up against the sell-out of Scottish fishing communities

Theresa May has set up Scotland’s fishermen as a bargaining chip for the UK government throughout the Brexit negotiations.
For decades, the Tories treated the Scottish fishing interests as “expendable” in European negotiations, and systematically traded away the rights of the fishing industry.

Brexiteers have been promising “complete control and full sovereignty” of Scotland’s waters, and recently, 13 Scottish Tory MPs claimed they would vote against any Brexit deal that does not deliver that.
It is clear that Theresa May’s deal does not deliver this for Scottish fishermen, but the Scottish Tory MPs silently fell back into line, proving again that they’re always acting in the interests of their party, rather than Scotland.

We have consistently raised this shambolic sell-out and stood up for Scottish fishing communities who simply deserve better.

We took a strong stance against damaging Tory welfare policies

A UN report, published in November, highlighted that UK ministers are living in a “state of denial” over the extreme poverty existing around the UK and reported on the impacts of damaging Tory policies.

When Ian Blackford raised this at PMQs, Theresa May put her head in the sand and refused to acknowledge, let alone to address, these issues.

In Scotland we’ve taken steps to mitigate the worst of Tory austerity, and spent more than £100 million a year to protect people from its hardship. The 
Scottish Government’s action was praised in the same UN report.

We have continued calling out the shambolic roll-out of Universal Credit, which forced more people into food banks, and pressed for devolution of further social security powers, to allow us to get rid of barbaric Tory policies once and for all.