THERE’S a cold wind blowing through Scottish Conservative HQ.
Westminster Tories turning their backs on the promises made to the Scottish fishing industry has been a huge betrayal which no amount of social media sound bites from their Holyrood leader can spin dry. The ink wasn’t even dry on Ruth Davidson’s hastily put together promise to the fishing community before her party sold them out on the EU transition deal. Looks like Davidson is at the end of the queue when it comes to finding out when the red lines get re-drawn by David Davis and Theresa May. This U-turn on fishing is a major humiliation for her and exposes the Scottish Conservatives’ severe lack of influence in the bigger Brexit picture.
At least Douglas Ross, MP for Moray, had the sense to admit there was “no spinning this as a good outcome”, before falling back on blaming everyone else and their dug for his own party’s almighty Brexit botch-job. His words however will be cold comfort to those voters who pinned their hopes and aspirations on a different outcome and this Tory treachery won’t be forgotten at the ballot box.
What’s becoming more and more apparent with every passing day is that the kind of fantasy Brexit, the minority of Scots voters opted for, is very far from what they are going to get. It’s going to be a huge fudge, a big compromise, with Scotland’s valuable resources once again used as trading chips in an uneven gamble.
No wonder Ruth Davidson is so quiet these days. With devolution under threat, it’s alarming to watch her party in London, and many of her newly elected MPs, wreak havoc on democracy in their attempts to bypass Holyrood and the wishes of the Scottish people. She’s already lost control of the likes of new MPs Colin Clark and Stephen Kerr for instance, as they join forces with the hardline Brexit European Research Group despite their constituents voting to Remain. As a 13-strong group, the Scottish Tories should, in theory, be in a stronger position to flex their muscles than the 10 DUP MPs, who were brought in to strengthen Theresa May’s hand after the election failure – but while the Northern Irish enjoy financial benefits and a place at the top table, from this new acquaintance, the Scottish Tories have ended up being mere lobby fodder and foolish lackeys, desperate for any crumbs from the table of their imperial masters.
In an Urgent Question yesterday, these Tory MPs stood up to be counted, full of bluster and outrage at the latest negative turn of events for their fishery fans, only to be fobbed off by a flustered-looking Michael Gove, who also seems to be second last only to Ruth Davidson to know about his government’s changing of the goalposts on access to our seas. They seemed genuinely flabbergasted that Scotland could be sold out so quickly over such a red-hot issue as this. Oh whaur hae they been all of these years?
As for our Scottish Secretary, David Mundell, missing in inaction, he’s probably hastily booking yet another trip to the other side of the world as I write these words, in the hope that no-one will follow to ask him why he fails to stand up for Scotland at every twist and turn in the Brexit saga. Maybe he’ll take Ms Davidson with him to Timbuktu or Xanadu, because it’s hard to imagine them staying in their domestic positions for much longer with these major promises broken and serial professional incompetence over the Brexit power grab.
Being a Scottish Tory has got a lot lonelier. They’ve alienated much of their core vote now the UK Government’s Brexit impact analysis has been revealed showing the devastating consequences for our businesses, our industries, our financial sector. Now the fishing fraternity are reeling from being stabbed in the back, it’s difficult to identify the few remaining Tory believers.
Even this week, with news of Tory MSP, Rachael Hamilton, involved in a £50k fine for breaching workplace pension legislation at her luxury hotel in the Borders, we’re reminded of the WASPI women and their pension promise broken by a government obsessed with austerity. It’s this callous project of Tory tax and spending cuts that has so severely impacted on women in particular, with tax credits capped and the cruel addition of the rape clause as well as benefits slashed for low-income families. A host of reports have shown that it is women, children, disabled people and the BAME community who have suffered most at the hands of a government divorced from the reality of everyday life. Not a great vote winner.
And it’s not just these groups they’ve managed to alienate. Joining forces with the DUP was a kick in the teeth for the wider LGBTI community with that party’s backward and regressive stance on gay rights and equality in Northern Ireland. The list goes on, and I haven’t even yet mentioned the racist rants of some Scottish Tory councillors about ethnic minorities – another nail in the coffin for many voters of a less prejudiced persuasion.
It looks like the Scottish Tory revival has been short-lived, while their supporters have been short-changed. The year 2021 is not that far away. Brexit may well be a reality by then and the electorate will be bearing the brunt. Will the last surviving Westminster Tory from Scotland please turn off the lights?
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