PROPOSALS to cut the number of MPs in Scotland from 59 to 53 have been branded “ludicrous” amid fears they’ll radically reduce Scotland’s influence at Westminster.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland revealed their final plans yesterday, as part of a UK-wide move to take Parliament from 650 MPs down to 600.
All but three of Scotland’s constituencies are set for a shake up.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and MP Drew Hendry will see their seats merged to form a new gigantic Highland Central constituency.
In Glasgow the number of seats will reduce from seven to six. Ian Murray’s Edinburgh South constituency will be split in half, with the expansion of the new Edinburgh East constituency.
Analysts at the Election Centre said the new constituencies would give the Tories a majority of 16, while Labour would lose 30 MPs, the LibDems five and the SNP two.
The SNP's Tommy Sheppard hit out at the plans.
“For the mainland Highlands – which has a geographic area one and a half times the size of Wales – to be cut down to just two constituencies, as this report recommends, is ludicrous,” he said.
“There is no appetite for these changes at present, and I am confident that these proposals won’t see the light of day.
“At a time when it is more important than ever to hold this hapless Tory Government to account, Theresa May wants to cut the number of Scottish MPs at Westminster.
“It is completely unacceptable that the Tories consider boundary changes a priority when they have their own chaotic Brexit to deal with.”
New rules mean every constituency in the UK has to be within 5% of the UK electoral average or “quota” of 74,769.
The only two exceptions are Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Orkney and Shetland, which are protected in law.
Writing in the Scotsman, Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird accused the Tories of dirty tricks: “It’s not difficult to see why a strategy of cutting MPs would benefit the Tories. It would afford an instant solution in how to reduce the number of MPs who are making the Government’s life difficult.”
She also claimed there were rumours at Westminster that affected Tory MPs who roll over and accept the boundary changes had been “promised safe seats elsewhere.”
The move could, she added, increase support for a second referendum on independence.
Laird said: “This Government is proving itself to be incapable of working with anyone, and more sinister still, appear deliberately focused on party at all costs, even if that means sacrificing the Union.”
Lord Matthews, deputy chair of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, defended the recommendations, saying they “fairly reflect the views expressed to us during our consultation”.
He added: “We listened carefully to comments made on our revised proposals and made a number of changes to boundaries and to constituency names.”
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