The tale of two governments

by the SNP
Posted on
3 years ago
4 min read

Boris Johnson has only ever been a symptom of a fundamentally broken Westminster system, which places elitism, entitlement and cronyism at its core.

And for all the talk of a “union of equals”, it’s a system that consistently imposes damaging policies against Scotland’s democratic will – whether it’s Brexit or austerity.

While the SNP Scottish Government is delivering progress and working to build a fairer country, Westminster control holds Scotland back.

It’s a tale of two governments – and here’s what it looks like.

Scotland keeps getting Tory governments we don’t vote for

Scotland hasn’t voted Tory in a Westminster general election since 1955, and yet we repeatedly get saddled with Tory Prime Ministers.

The youngest people who were able to vote in an election when Scotland voted Tory were born in 1934.

The Tory governments we don’t vote for have imposed damaging policies and made catastrophic decisions – from Thatcher’s poll tax, to Cameron’s brutal austerity and Johnson’s Brexit.

Litany of Tory sleaze, corruption and lies

From the start of Boris Johnson’s premiership, his government has been mired in scandal – attempting to block democracy with an illegal shutdown of Parliament, in order to avoid scrutiny over Brexit.

On Brexit, numerous promises have turned into dust – whether it’s the infamous £350m a week for the NHS, lower energy and food prices or stronger environmental standards.

During the pandemic, while people made sacrifices to save lives, the Tories handed out lucrative Covid contracts to their mates, lost billions to fraud, and held illegal parties at Downing Street.

Westminster is now in a permanent state of scandal, with Scotland paying the price.

While Boris Johnson is resigning, this damage is not limited to Boris Johnson – he is merely the symptom of a broken political system that elevates people like him into power.

Tories and Labour both back a damaging Brexit

Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, and the SNP is now the only major party that continues to support Scotland’s place in Europe.

Labour have now become full supporters of Boris Johnson’s Brexit – as Keir Starmer categorically ruled out re-joining the EU, the single market or the customs union, or to bring back freedom of movement (which was one of Starmer’s key leadership pledges).

OBR research found that Brexit will hit the economy twice as bad as Covid, while exports are crumbling, inflation is soaring and businesses suffer from shortages.

But despite all that, Labour still back the damaging Brexit imposed by Boris Johnson.

While Westminster self-destructs, the SNP deliver progress

As UK Tory governments continue to impose damaging policies against our will, the Scottish Government is choosing a different path – building a fairer country and delivering progress to every household in Scotland.

Despite limited resources and limited powers, here are just some of things we’ve achieved:

  • A new social security system, which now delivers 12 benefits – 7 of which are unique within the UK
  • The Scottish Child Payment – now doubled to £20 a week to tackle child poverty
  • Record high investment in our NHS and record high staffing levels
  • Free tuition – ensuring education is based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay
  • Transformative expansion of free early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours
  • Free bus travel for under 22-s
  • Over 100,000 affordable homes already delivered – with 70% of them for social rent

We could do so much more with independence

If all this – and much, much more – could be achieved against the backdrop of Westminster cuts and limited powers, imagine how much more we could do with the full powers of an independent country.

Independent countries of Scotland’s size, like Ireland, Denmark or Belgium, significantly outperform the UK on every measure.

They are happier, wealthier and fairer – and many of them lack the vast natural resources that Scotland has.

An independent Scotland – with governments it always vote for, instead of out-of-touch Westminster governments – has what it takes to be a successful, thriving European country, and Scotland will have that choice in an independence referendum.

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