Mhairi Black: Scotland just cannot be ignored any longer

We haven’t plunged even further into the dark depths of a major political crisis, eh? The Prime Minister hasn’t shut down the UK Parliament by providing advice to the Queen unlawfully, eh?

Well … obviously, all of those things did actually happen. It’s par for the course in 2019 UK politics.

It’s been particularly interesting observing Boris Johnson in the short time Parliament was back after summer recess (before being unlawfully shut down again).

Jovial, fun-loving, bumbling-big-word Boris seemed to completely disappear. Instead, we have an angry guy who can’t stop himself leaning into insults that were outdated in the 1960s. And who could blame him? He has an absolute nightmare couple of weeks.

Boris Johnson has had a tough few weeks

During his first Prime Minister’s Questions he managed a feat thought impossible by those who have sat through the past few years of PMQs: he lost to Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn has never done well at PMQs. When he faced off against David Cameron, he was forgettable. The main comment made when he faced off against Theresa May was that you couldn’t tell who was worse. But Boris, the supposed saviour of Toryism and the right-wing in the UK, was absolutely destroyed by Jeremy Corbyn. All of the charm that the commentators and Tory party backers have insisted Boris has was absolutely nowhere to be found.

The Benn Bill (the Bill that forces the Prime Minister to seek an Article 50 extension if a new Brexit deal can’t be reached) passed its first staged without worry. More than 20 Tory MPs rebelled against the Government. Huge names in the Tory party were expelled without hesitation, including the Father of the House Ken Clarke. This tactic, presumably a Dominic Cummings “huge brain” creation, backfired spectacularly, with the Prime Minister’s own brother resigning from both Government and the Tory party. You have to wonder why, if his own family can’t stomach his Brexit plans, why he thinks the people of Scotland – who voted to Remain in the EU – would.

After his brother bolted, No 10 went into panic mode. One journalist, who’s name I forget, heard from a source that the Downing Street team put a huge effort into working the Sunday papers. They wanted the front pages to be friendly and comment on how well the Government were doing. It didn’t quite work out though, as Amber Rudd resigned late on the Saturday night with a scathing letter and an interview with the Sunday Times. It’s always a strange feeling when a Tory DWP Secretary resigns – it’s a quick jolt of jubilation as the person who has been presiding over cruel austerity policies is disappearing, followed by huge trepidation over which ghoul will be selected to replace them.

His first week as Prime Minister with an open Parliament was a complete failure. You can be sure he hoped the second would be better. Could unstoppable optimism and excitement win the day?

No. It absolutely could not.

READ MORE: Mhairi Black: Scotland just cannot be ignored any longer

The Benn Bill completed its journey through Parliament, people asked the Prime Minister to “please leave” their towns, he once again failed to get his sleekit general election motion through Parliament, and Parliament was shut down.

You can be sure Downing Street breathed a massive sigh of relief as the place was shut, but there was worse to come. The Scottish Courts found that the Prime Minister had acted unlawfully when he shut down Parliament and his team briefed journos that this only happened because Scotland’s independent judiciary was biased. Then they briefed that the judges weren’t biased, and their one of their ministers went on to Channel 4 news so clarify that they believe the judges were in fact biased – or at least some people think they are.

It’s been a mess. The Prime Minister has lost every vote he’s brought forward to Parliament.

He’s being heckled everywhere he goes. He’s barely started, and he’s already failed.

I lay all that out because I’ve been thinking back on the last three Prime Ministers we’ve had. David Cameron, who passed cruel policies for his rich pals, before ducking out because he couldn’t be bothered cleaning up the mess he’d made of the country. Theresa May who presided over a never-ending set of scandals before being ousted having achieved nothing for people who have been suffering since the 2008 recession (and long before).

Now Boris Johnson, who has had possibly the most catastrophic two weeks in recent political memory. These people weren’t elected by Scotland. They’re enacting policy that hurts people in Scotland and Scottish business, that Scotland didn’t vote for. They’re demeaning and discrediting Scottish courts that have existed since long before the Union. They’re a bunch of failures who have fallen up their entire lives, and somehow ended up in charge of the affairs of a country that didn’t vote for them in what is supposed to be a democracy.

It’s not on. It can’t be ignored any longer. Scotland must be given a choice on its own future. We have to escape this dangerous and out of date union.