JACK Straw recently referred to the Scottish National Party as the nationalist party, as does Boris Johnson on a regular basis at the Dispatch Box in the House of Commons.
It is the party Jack Straw belongs to, and of course was a minister in under Tony Blair, that was forced by international pressure to give Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland a greater say in their political affairs because little Englanders like Straw were dictating to them.
However, even devolution hasn’t stopped the Labour Party from trying to dictate to Scotland, with their only Scottish MP, Ian Murray, writing to the Westminster government demanding that 11 civil servants be reassigned other duties instead of working on the proposed indyref2 legislation and White Paper.
Coming from Kilmarnock, we have – or should I say, used to have – a very strong Labour Party connection in this part of Ayrshire. This is, after all, the area where Keir Hardie and Andrew Fisher were blacklisted from all the Ayrshire pits for trying to get workers’ rights and sowing the seeds of Jack Straw and Ian Murray’s present-day Labour Party.
READ MORE: Former Labour minister in outrageous anti-SNP rant during Sky News interview
Keir Hardie of course is well known in Scotland as the first Labour MP (Cummnock), Andrew Fisher maybe not so, but he went on to become Australia’s first prime minister and was elected three times to that post. It is democracy and inclusiveness that we want in Scotland, not dictatorship from little Englanders!
Alexander Potts
Kilmarnock
I SHARE John Swinney’s concerns about the “Brexit Freedoms” Bill, as I do several other examples of Tory legislating, particularly the Elections Bill which has the potential to put the Electoral Commission in the corner of the Government of the day.
However, I wonder if diminishing the powers of Holyrood is the only aspect that should be targeted? For achieving which aims do we think Westminster wants to “streamline” the process of getting EU legislation off the statute books?
As Charles Woolfson wrote recently: “In Johnson’s eyes and those of fellow ardent free-marketeers, a ‘Singapore scenario’ would be achieved by an ultra-business-friendly environment with low or zero corporation tax, low wages, weak trade unions, vestigial welfare provisions and a significant temporary migrant ‘non-citizen’ workforce ... largely without the protection of national labour laws or access to welfare provisions.”
Moreover, becoming like Singapore would require inter alia the following – much lower government spending (they spend 16% of their GDP, we spend 40 to 45%), strong social controls and extensive government patronage, no equal pay or non-discrimination laws for women; and no minimum wage, except for cleaners and security guards.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson's 'Brexit Freedom' Bill poses 'direct threat' to Holyrood
As Professor Woolfson concludes “As a prescription for a post-Brexit labour market, a ‘Singapore scenario’ leaves a lot to be desired.”
The possibility of transition to a Singapore style regime has been discussed for some time, and in this regard the “Brexit Freedoms” Bill will be a threat to Holyrood, but we should also be clear about its more specific potentials.
Alasdair Galloway
Dumbarton
ALYN Smith says that there is a choice that faces our country either Brexit Britain or independence in Europe (Scots can choose Brexit Britain or indy in Europe, Feb 2).
There is a third choice which is independence in the world!
Conflating two issues into one independence referendum is not on. Independence is one referendum, membership of the European Union is a different, separate referendum. What about the one third of SNP voters who voted Leave, do their opinions count for nothing?
Having gained independence from one Union, the UK, why give it away to another Union, the EU?
READ MORE: Alyn Smith: Scots can choose this Tory Brexit Britain or indy in Europe
Brian Nugent Burra, Shetland MAIR mince on the Border! When Scotland becomes independent, trade with the rest of the UK will not be governed by the UK-EU trade agreement despite what some fancy Dan professor with her head up her ain erse might say, for the simple reason that we will not be a member of the EU. We will still be a member of the common travel area. Entry into the EU will be negotiated but the terms are not automatic. There are examples from around Europe of differing circumstances including Ireland. So for god’s sake will you stop throwing those of us who live in the Borders under the bus.
Ian Richmond
Springfield
THE UK Government have continually mismanaged and underinvested in the UK energy market leaving Scotland exposed to soaring gas prices. While Rishi Sunak plays a game of robbing Peter to pay Paul with the UK’s finances, it is not the millionaires on the Tory benches in Westminster that will feel the impact of energy price hikes, it’s ordinary people. Imagine how people who are already struggling with energy bills must feel reading this news of bills soaring by up to £700. People are already in fuel poverty, they have been for a while now. People have been suffering through Tory cuts such as the recent cut to Universal Credit. Families, pensioners and entire communities in this country have been struggling for over a decade of Tory austerity now.
I want to live in a country that doesn’t need food banks or fuel banks and while tied to this union we do not have an alternative, food and fuel poverty is our reality. Independence is our way out of all of this, the longer we remain under the thumb of Boris Johnson, the more the people in Scotland who need help the most will suffer.
Robert Innes
SNP Gryffe Branch Convenor
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