This week’s Worst of Westminster newsletter is brought to you by political reporter Abbi Garton-Crosbie.
Westminster is back from recess and UK politicians are already up to their usual nonsense.
You can sign up to get the Worst of Westminster in your inbox for free every week by clicking here.
The safe consumption room ping pong is back
The Scottish and UK Government’s are yet again deadlocked over the issue of safe drug consumption rooms.
Last week, the Home Affairs Committee, made up of cross-party MPs in the House of Commons, said that UK-wide drug laws must be reformed and backed the creation of a pilot of such a facility in Glasgow that should be jointly funded by both governments.
If Westminster won’t sign off on it, the committee said, then drug laws should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
But the Home Office were swift to rule out support for any such thing, doubling down on their war on drugs and hardline stance on the issue.
Drug deaths in Scotland are a serious issue, with the Scottish Government already taking a public health approach, rather than a criminal one like down south, to attempt to tackle the problem.
And on Friday, 13 of Glasgow’s politicians, including the First Minister and his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon reiterated this call for a facility in the city in a letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
When The National contacted the Home Office about this, the press officer at first tried to pan us off, before we pointed out that the letter was dated September 7, and it was not from last week.
Alas, less than two hours later, we were sent a bland catch-all comment, stating that there is “no safe way to take illegal drugs”, ignoring the substance of the letter or the questions we put to the department.
With Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar U-turning on his support for drug laws to be devolved to Holyrood, bringing him in line with Keir Starmer, it's clear to us at The National that any radical change in this policy area is going to require full independence.
Rats and Victorian diseases? Penny, please.
The leader of the House of Commons, for some reason, thought that taking a dig at Scotland in the first week back from summer recess was a great way to kick off the term.
Penny Mordaunt, during an exchange with Deirdre Brock in the Commons, described Scottish cities as rat-infested where residents are suffering from “Victorian diseases”.
In a bizarre rant, the former Tory leadership contender (below) also suggested the SNP may complain about “the execution of Mary Queen of Scots” in Parliament on Thursday.
Her comments prompted outrage from politicians, and rightly so, particularly as it’s UK Tory Westminster policies that have plunged thousands into poverty, something the Scottish Government is constantly trying to mitigate.
It’s almost as if the Tories know that they are on their way out of government and that they’re looking at an almost wipe-out in Scotland at the next General Election.
AOB
- Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has snubbed a THIRD Holyrood committee, this time on the deposit return scheme and intergovernmental relations. It could be suggested that maybe the Tory MP is hiding from scrutiny after knocking back another Scottish Government policy?
- Contentious plans to limit where Scottish football fans travelling by bus could stop or drink are set to be scrapped after a furious backlash from numerous football associations. Maybe the Tories shouldn’t come after Scotland’s national sport if they know what’s good for them.
- SNP MP Chris Law was pulled up in the Commons this week for describing Labour and Tories as “two cheeks of the same arse”, later changing the offending word to “bottom”. While the choice of language may have infuriated Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, Law wasn’t exactly wrong was he?
- Unelected peer George Foulkes is at it again, this time with a plot to challenge Scottish Government spending on international offices. The Labour Lord apparently has a five-point plan to target the SNP-Greens administration in Holyrood and frustrate their efforts. Well, that is if anyone listens to him.
- And on his first trip to India as Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak refused to raise the case of detained Scot Jagtar Singh Johal with the country's Prime Minister.
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 here