LIFE, they say, is full of surprises. Today Scottish politics got another surprise. It turns out that there is after all a line that the British Government can cross that will rouse Douglas Ross up from the position of supine compliance in which he is clearly most comfortable when it comes to Scottish dealings with the Westminster Parliament – and if not provoke him into outright rebellion, at least make him grumble a bit before he finally and inevitably acquiesces to the instructions from his Westminster masters.
It would be nice to report that the occasion for Douglas's discovery of the existence of backbones as a concept, if not actually finding a concrete example of one, was a principled defence of the poorest and most vulnerable who have been attacked and undermined by a government that strips £20 a week from struggling families at a time when food and energy costs are soaring. Equally it would be nice to say that he was at long last outraged by the way in which Downing Street has lied and cheated its way through negotiations with the EU. But we all know that Douglas is going to mount as much opposition to those things as the nodding-toy, flag-covered British bulldog on the parcel shelf of Boris Johnson's chauffeur-driven car.
What's getting Douglas's goat is the proposal from the British Government to change the boundaries of Westminster constituencies. Douglas is not upset because Scotland's representation in the Commons will be slashed by two to 57 while England's contingent is increased by 10. Neither is he concerned about Conservative proposals to introduce voter ID in order to solve a non-existent problem of voter fraud, proposals which will make it harder for people from certain non-Conservative demographics to vote while the independent Electoral Commission is brought under the control of the government. Douglas is fine with all that.
As far as the Conservatives are concerned, the less heard from rebellious Caledonian types and the easier it is to outnumber them with Conservatives from the English shires, the better. What he's not happy about is that his Moray constituency is to be split into three with areas hived off to enlarge neighbouring constituencies, all held by the SNP. What he's really unhappy about is that Moray might no longer have a Conservative MP, because what the North East of Scotland really needs is another Conservative toady who will meekly roll over and accept whatever insults that Johnson and his cronies decide to inflict on Scotland.
This piece is from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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