Wes Streeting: SNP at Westminster are 'constantly whinging'

Wes Streeting attacked the SNP while speaking to an audience in Edinburgh as he appeared alongside radio host Iain Dale at one of his “All Talk” Fringe events.

Streeting, who is tipped as a possible future Labour leadership candidate, also responded to Stephen Flynn’s claims that he is just an “identikit politician”.

Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, had told the Herald that Tony Blair’s New Labour had been full of politicians that “looked and sounded the same and it didn’t resonate with me”.

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He went on: “To represent the people you have to be in tune with them and they have to believe you’re one of them …

“Look at Wes Streeting. He’s a decent bloke on one level, but if you were going to design an identikit politician it would be Wes Streeting.”

Asked about the line, Streeting suggested that the SNP MP had a CV that read more like a career politician.

The Labour MP told the Fringe crowd: “On a personal level I quite like him – however, Stephen’s come out and attacked me as being an identikit politician.

“I would just like to point out that as well as being slightly younger than I am [Flynn is 34, Streeting 40], his career was studying politics at university, studying politics and international relations at masters level, becoming a researcher to the SNP at Holyrood and Westminster, becoming a councillor, then becoming a member of parliament.

“If anyone’s got the CV of a career politician, it’s definitely Stephen Flynn (below).”

He added: “On a broader level about identikit politics, I take it as a badge of honour that increasingly I find a big Tory target on my back as shadow health secretary and it’s nice to have an SNP one there too now.”

Streeting was also asked about the SNP in general, specifically in light of comments made by Tory Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt.

Also appearing opposite Dale at the Fringe, Mordaunt accused the SNP of showing “real bile and hatred”, adding: “Movements based on that kind of politics I don’t think are ever successful.”

Streeting was asked if he agreed with the Tory minister’s assessment. While he did not directly respond, he attacked the SNP on his own terms.

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The Labour politician said: “Honestly, in Westminster it is just grievance politics.

“It is all constant whinging, complaining, and pretending they don’t have any agency, that the Scottish Government is basically beholden to Westminster, that it doesn’t have significant freedoms in terms of tax policy, in terms of domestic policy.

“The fact is, if I were a Scot, I would want to be an MSP not an MP. The issues that I care most about, the issues that drive me, particularly around public services, equality, social justice, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament have so much freedom to do their own thing.

“I don’t think the SNP can get away with saying ‘the reason that child poverty is rising in Scotland on our watch is because of the Tories’. I think they have to take some responsibility too.”

Streeting (above with Keir Starmer) added: “My favourite thing is when they [the SNP Westminster group] arrived they spoke with one voice like the Borg from Star Trek, resistance is futile, and now they are at each others’ throats.

“It’s interesting to watch. Mildly fun to watch. But I’m not going to pretend that it’s all been plain sailing in the Labour Party. It’s quite nice to watch other political parties imploding.”

Responding to Streeting, SNP MP David Linden said the Labour frontbencher was trying to "gloss over" the damage being done by policies he supports.

Linden said: "In contrast to the pro-Brexit Labour Party, we want people in Scotland to have the maximum agency to make the best decisions for Scotland.

"Wes Streeting can't just gloss over the damaging impact the pro-Brexit Labour Party's policies are having on Scotland, including Brexit, which has cost Scotland billions and is fueling the cost of living crisis.

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"Nor can he ignore the fact that shameful Labour Party policies like the two-child cap and bedroom tax are pushing 20,000 Scottish children into poverty.

"At the next election, voting SNP is the only way to secure independence and escape the damage of Westminster control for good."

The Fraser of Allander Institute reported in July that child poverty levels in Scotland were “fairly flat”.

It went on: “Whilst Scotland is towards the bottom of the pack when it comes to child poverty rates, other parts of the UK (the South East of England, Northern Ireland and the East of England) have had similar rates of progress over recent years.

“The data is quite volatile, but at the moment there does not appear to be evidence of Scotland forging a unique path.”