NICOLA Sturgeon realised she had lost control of the Scottish Government narrative with the bungling of the ferry fiasco, A9 dualling, deposit return scheme and Gender Recognition Reform Bill to name but a few. Like a good leader she realised that a reset was needed with a new leader in charge.
My worry is that the recent SNP poor governance record, if accompanied by a poorly selected leader, is going down the same downward spiral that befell Scottish Labour in 2007.
In this respect, I think Kate brings with her less baggage and the wider public appear to prefer her.
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Scots want their Holyrood MSPs to govern competently and this will give Scots the confidence, come the next referendum, to vote Yes. A nationhood convention would go a long way to tone down the party-political battles of recent years.
However, it is for Scottish MPs at Westminster to win the democracy argument for the Scottish people.
These are the two clear objectives for Scotland to become sovereign again and in the process set Wales, England and all of Ireland free to be sovereign again. A win-win, as they say.
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Humza Yousaf’s suggestion that he could be open to a snap Holyrood election is folly. When will SNP members and politicians realise that only Westminster is sovereign?
Westminster is trying to undermine devolution in Scotland; Scots need to take the fight to Westminster. No point having endless protest marches or Yes rallies in Scotland, these need to be done at Westminster.
Westminster government can only govern (rule) Scotland if Scottish MPs give them consent to do so. The majority of Scottish MPs at Westminster are for Scottish Home Rule, with only a handful or so of Scottish Unionist MPs against. Westminster cannot turn its back on Scotland because it voted for something they don’t like; the Tories were happy with how Scots voted in the 1950s, and Labour were subsequently. This is why we live in a so-called democracy.
The Westminster parliamentary system of first past the post means it’s about MP majority, not vote majority, so if more than 50% of Scots MPs want a referendum, there should be no barrier to this by English MPs.
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There must be something in the statute books that makes Westminster null and void if they block the constitutional wishes of the majority of Scottish elected MPs. If not, the SNP (plus Alba, and Scottish independent) MPs should make a joint statement in the House of Commons that they don’t believe Westminster upholds the principles and values of democracy and as the elected majority of Scottish MPs they are withdrawing their consent for Westminster to continue to govern Scotland.
It will be up to the UK Government to resolve this constitutional crisis either by negotiation and compromise on Section 30 or through the courts, which they hate to do.
A Wilson
Stirlingshire
KIND of takes the sting out of Stephen Flynn’s questions at PMQs if Sunak can hit back with lines written for him by a contender for next first minister.
So what happens if she does become first minister and keeps on in the way that she has started? Whoever is prime minister will have a blast, playing SNP Westminster off SNP Holyrood! Nothing that Stephen Flynn says will land – which would be a great pity, because he is actually good!
Thom Muir
via thenational.scot
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