Plans to Undermine Scottish Democracy
In the 1997 referendum for a Scottish Parliament – when 74% of voters backed its reestablishment – Labour argued it was essential in order to stop future Westminster Tory governments from imposing policies on Scotland.
Tony Blair said Scotland had been “experimented” upon with the Poll Tax and that a “situation like that should never happen again. It is not democratic. It is not right”, and that such policies should not be “imposed from the centre”.
Gordon Brown described the Tory policies as “alien practices” imposed on Scotland, and that this “could not happen under a Scottish Parliament”.
Nearly three decades later and Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is fast abandoning those principles.
Labour’s Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, claims he backs a Council Tax freeze despite also criticising it. But his own council leaders are not only planning to snub Scottish Government funding for a freeze – with plans to increase it by up to £515 – but are asking the Tory government in Westminster to step in and take control:
- Labour council leader urges UK Government to scupper SNP tax freeze plan – Daily Record, 28 February 2024
- Council leader calls for Westminster intervention in tax row – Clydebank Post, 1 March 2024
Naturally, the Tories – who Scotland haven’t voted to government in almost 70 years – have jumped at the chance to have more control in Scotland.
Not only does such a call by Scottish Labour politicians seek to deny Scotland’s democratic rights, it would visit mayhem on Scotland’s councils.
Westminster Tories control council spending grants in England, and there they have made devastating cuts over the past 14 years. So much so that there are councils who have had their core funding cut by half, and a growing number have gone bankrupt:
- Nearly one in 10 English councils expect to go bust in next year, survey finds – Guardian, 28 February 2024
- How a decade of austerity has squeezed council budgets in England – Guardian, 29 January 2024
- Jeremy Hunt’s budget cuts spark fears of ‘existential threat’ to English councils – Guardian, 26 November 2023
But it’s not only council leaders in Keir Starmer’s Labour who are threatening Scottish democracy. It’s their MPs and Lords as well.
Labour MP Michael Shanks has indicated that Labour would not reverse a Tory veto on Holyrood legislation – despite Labour MSPs backing the those laws – and at the Scottish Labour conference Ian Murray suggested Scottish Government overseas offices would be curtailed.
Then there’s Labour Lord George Foulkes and his recurring campaign to stop the Scottish Parliament spending money on constitutional matters, despite voting for that himself in 2007. A campaign Ian Murray has added his support to.
But the Scottish Labour leader has not proactively repudiated any of this. Instead, his only pronouncement has been to vaguely talk about “resetting Scottish devolution“. A vague expression that could hide myriad intentions.
The signs are there and the evidence shows Labour no longer care about devolution – only power at Westminster.
Only one party is strong enough to defend and protect Scottish democracy from Labour tax rises and Tory cuts – the SNP. And only independence can guarantee Scotland’s Parliament and people are protected from the policies of the Westminster parties.
