So, farewell then, Keir Starmer

The resignation of Keir Starmer marks the end of a Premiership defined not by leadership, but by a total lack of principle.

For years, the people of Scotland were told by Labour that a change in the occupant of Number 10 would mean a fundamental change in how the UK is governed and how Scotland is treated.

Instead, Starmer’s departure serves as a definitive reminder that the Westminster system itself is fundamentally broken, trapping Scotland in a perpetual cycle of chaos, broken promises, and unmitigated decline.

As SNP Leader John Swinney has observed, Starmer’s exit is the predictable conclusion to a tenure built on shifting sands.

From day one, this was an administration that prioritised political expediency over the well-being of ordinary families, proving that no matter who holds the keys to Downing Street, Scotland’s interests are always an afterthought.

Starmer’s record in government is not one of achievement, but of retreat.

Observers across the political spectrum have charted at least 14 major u-turns during his time in office – a dizzying track record of flip-flops that left small businesses, public services, and vulnerable citizens paying the price.

Consider the cruelty of retaining the Tory two-child benefit cap. Rather than using the power of government to lift children out of poverty, Starmer chose to prolong their hardship unnecessarily.

Look at the WASPI women, who were led to believe a Labour government would finally deliver justice, only to watch Starmer carry on exactly where the Tories left off, leaving them entirely without compensation.

Even more telling was the cold intent behind his administration’s policies.

They actively sought to cut Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners and slash disability benefits. While public outrage eventually forced frantic backpedaling, the original intention laid bare the true nature of their priorities.

Add to this a clear, undeniable breach of their election manifesto with the National Insurance increase – a tax hike that directly harmed small businesses, vital charities, and cash-strapped public sector employers like our NHS and schools.

Despite assurances from Chancellor Rachel Reeves that income tax thresholds would not be frozen, they did exactly that, dragging more middle-and-low-income earners into higher tax bands.

Everywhere you look, the promises melted away.

Their “day one” protection from unfair dismissal for workers was quietly watered down to a six-month delay.

From authoritarian flirtations with Digital ID cards to delaying local council elections and dodging questions over the influential role of figures like Peter Mandelson, Starmer’s government embodied the very Westminster sleaze and chaos they promised to banish.

None of this should have come as a surprise. The deception we witnessed in government was identical to the strategy Starmer used to seize control of his own party.

To win the Labour leadership, he made ten solemn pledges to his members, only to systematically shred them the moment they could be ditched.

He promised to scrap tuition fees; he abandoned it. He promised to increase income tax on the top 5% of earners; he dropped it. He promised to put public services back into public hands, protect the freedom of movement, and deliver a £28 billion Green Prosperity Plan; every single one was thrown overboard.

He even abandoned his pledge to abolish the unelected House of Lords, proving his complete comfort with the archaic structures of the British establishment.

This duplicity extended to the international stage.

In a legacy stained by his lack of moral clarity, Starmer shocked observers early on by defending actions that deprived civilians in Gaza of basic necessities like water and electricity.

For a former human rights lawyer, it was an astonishing display of a politician who had completely lost his ethical compass.

For Scotland, Starmer’s position as just another Westminster obsessed politician was felt sharply in Scotland’s industrial heartlands, where Starmer’s government – shoulder to shoulder with a silent contingent of Scottish Labour MPs – treated our communities as a complete afterthought.

While claiming to champion a “just transition” to green energy, Westminster stood idly by as Scotland’s foundational industries were dismantled and centuries of industrial heritage were wiped out.

The catastrophic closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, ending a century of crude oil processing and costing hundreds of skilled livelihoods, was met with a complete lack of urgency from Downing Street.

Instead of fighting to protect Scottish refining capability and secure a fast-tracked future in sustainable aviation fuels, Starmer’s administration offered little more than hollow management of decline.

The betrayal repeated itself in Fife with the closure of ExxonMobil’s Mossmorran ethylene plant. Hundreds more jobs vanished from the local economy, and once again, Scottish Labour MPs failed to stand up to their bosses in London to demand a real, robust industrial strategy.

While the SNP Scottish Government stepped in with millions in funding to directly support worker retraining and protect local communities, Westminster’s response was sluggish and reactive – proving that under the Westminster system, Scotland’s workforce is always expendable.

But the ultimate betrayal lies in how quickly Starmer discarded his democratic promises to Scotland.

There was a time when Keir Starmer explicitly stated that he would not oppose a independence referendum if there was a pro-independence majority elected to the Scottish Parliament. He stood by the claim that the SNP would have an undeniable mandate.

Yet, when the people of Scotland delivered exactly that mandate, Starmer u-turned yet again, treating Scottish democracy with outright contempt.

Starmer’s career is a textbook lesson in the failures of the Westminster system. It is a system that rewards institutional dishonesty, protects vested interests, and ignores the democratic will of the Scottish people.

We do not have to remain hitched to this endless cycle of Westminster chaos. Starmer may be gone, but the broken system that created him remains intact.

As John Swinney has made clear, the only way to ensure Scotland gets the governments we vote for, with the values we hold dear, is to take our future into our own hands.

True change won’t come from a new face in Downing Street – it will only come with Scottish independence.