THE SNP MP for Glasgow East has slammed a new bill that will see Scotland lose MPs to England.
David Linden said the bill, which will see Wales and Scotland lose MPs with England gaining 10, was “disgraceful” .
Once the four national boundary reviews are completed in 2023, England is set to have 543 MPs, Wales 32, a loss of eight, and Scotland 57, a decrease of two.
Northern Ireland will continue to have 18 MPs in the House of Commons but some of the current boundaries could shift as part of the plans, according to the region’s boundary commission.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the review, with 47.5 million voters to be divided into 650 constituencies of between 69,724 and 77,062 people in size.
The new constituency boundaries will come into force in 2023 and will be used at the next General Election a year later.
Speaking to The National, Linden said: “Since being elected to the House of Commons, I’ve seen countless occasions when Scottish MPs are shouted down, disrespected and downright ignored by the British government.
READ MORE: Disgraceful cut in Scottish MPs should be the final straw for No voters
“Westminster has no interest in listening to Scotland.
“The British government managed to outdo itself by legislating to reduce Scotland’s representation at Westminster. At first, Tory ministers wanted to reduce the size of the House of Commons from 650 to 600 seats.
“In the end, they U-turned and kept the status quo, except they instead robbed seats from Scotland and Wales to beef up parliamentary representation in London and the South East of England.”
He continued: “Currently, Scotland has 59 Members of Parliament to represent us from Shetland right down to Coldstream.
“However, figures released by the Boundary Commission yesterday (Monday) showed that Scotland will lose two seats.
“All of this is a kick in the teeth to the devolved nations whose voice in Europe was first diminished and now finds itself in the chopping block come the next General Election.”
Tim Bowden, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “Today marks the start of our work to review the constituency boundaries in England. Parliament has set strict rules on greater equality of electorate size between the new constituencies – these rules and the increase in total number of constituencies in England mean that there is likely to be a large degree of change across the country.”
Bowden said a first draft of proposals will be published in the summer, and a public consultation will follow.
The South East and South West – two regions where the Conservatives traditionally poll well – will both have new seats created.
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