MILTON Keynes MP and Scotland Office minister Iain Stewart has been warned to “get off this territory” after claiming criticism of his new role is “anti-British”.
Speaking to the BBC, Stewart hit back at suggestions he shouldn’t be working in the Scotland Office since he represents a constituency in England.
The MP was raised in Hamilton and educated in Glasgow but has lived in Milton Keynes since the 1990s.
The minister said there had been examples of MPs representing Scottish seats looking after English-only matters – such as John Reid in Tony Blairs’s government.
However with the English Votes for English Laws system, whereby only MPs representing English constituencies can vote on matters relating to England, it would be extremely unlikely to see a Scotland-based MP given responsibility for health, education or any other area the devolved parliaments have responsibility for today.
READ MORE: MP: 'Anti-British' to say I shouldn't be Scotland Office minister
Stewart said: “I don’t buy into this anti-British view that because you represent a constituency in one part of Britain that you are disqualified from doing a good job in the other parts.”
Responding to the minister’s comments, the longest serving SNP MP Pete Wishart suggested he should not be making these claims.
The Perth and North Perthshire MP, who chairs the Scottish Affairs Committee, said: “Iain needs to get off this territory as soon as.”
Iain needs to get off this territory as soon as. https://t.co/djx3dUisVM
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) June 17, 2020
Stewart was appointed to the Scotland Office last month after former minister Douglas Ross resigned amid the Dominic Cummings scandal.
The Prime Minister’s top adviser drove from London to his parents’ Durham home while sick with Covid-19 at the height of lockdown.
Many senior Tories spoke out and called for the aide’s resignation after receiving a barrage of angry emails from constituents. However, Moray MP Ross was the sole government figure to resign amid the row.
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