SCOTLAND’S First Minister has hit back at a Labour MP who defended Keir Starmer’s comments about Margaret Thatcher.
Writing in a piece for The Telegraph last week, the Labour leader claimed the former Tory PM brought “meaningful change” to Britain.
During an appearance on Thursday night’s Question Time, Labour MP and shadow equalities minister Anneliese Dodds defended her party leader’s comments.
“Keir did recognise that Margaret Thatcher was transformative. I don’t think anybody really could disagree with that,” she said.
READ MORE: Court ruling on UK's gender reform block due on Friday
“She came in to office with a really clear plan about what she wanted to do with our country.
“Now obviously Labour believes that a lot of the outcomes from that plan did not serve our country well.
“But there’s no question that she had a plan. I think there’s a big contrast there both with many Labour governments, you know those reforming Labour governments when they had a clear plan but then I would say also with the situation we’ve had over the last few years.”
Writing on Twitter/X in response to the clip, Yousaf said: “I disagree. Thatcher was destructive, not transformative.
“Quite something to watch Labour politicians line up to praise Margaret Thatcher. Their defence of her? She had a plan.
“Well, that much is true. Our communities still bear the scars of that plan.”
Dodds was further asked by host Fiona Bruce if Starmer would be “transformative” or just a “lightweight version of Tony Blair”.
“He will be transformative because we’re really clear that we need to have a long-term approach, that we need to ensure we have that decade of national renewal,” she added.
“We’ve set out those five missions to transform our country, done that very early, not at the last minute in an election campaign.
READ MORE: How long would it have taken Alex Cole-Hamilton to walk from bar to Chamber?
“We’ve done it very, very early so that we can set all of that really clear right now. We know it’s not going to be possible to change our country overnight but we changed our party and we’re determined to make sure we can change our country.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel