IT’S so obvious that any proposal put forward by the parliamentary SNP elected members, whether in Westminster or Holyrood, will always be opposed, one way or another, by any of its opposition parties.
The latest attempt to ignore Stephen Flynn’s proposal for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza by Israel was put forward by Keir Starmer in his watered-down amendment. Not only that, but his instruction for the Westminster Labour Party to sit on their hands if the vote was allowed was so dictatorial and against any Westminster democracy that might even exist.
READ MORE: Labour 'threatened Lindsay Hoyle's job' before Gaza motion rule change
Starmer’s leadership is heading for a possible slide in his popularity standing, as is already self-evident. Denying his party a free vote on such an important issue as put forward by Stephen Flynn was simply asking for trouble and possible rebellion from any of his Labour Party members.
The inbuilt antagonism against the SNP parliamentarians is really just a sign of weakness by any of the opposition members and their leaders. They know that, on more than one occasion, the SNP can make sense in their parliamentary proposals and debates.
Scotland needs the SNP government if only for its, in my view, socialist policies and principles that used to be the domain of the Labour Party back in the day. Which is why I changed from being a Labour Party member to an SNP member soon after my arrival in Scotland 13 years ago.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
I FIND it quite incredible that, rather than back an SNP motion for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which most of their own members support, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party hastily devised their own watered-down version as an amendment. Is their hatred of the SNP so visceral that they will happily go to such lengths and ignore their constituents to avoid voting for them?
Yet many Scots are thinking of voting for these charlatans in the next election!
L McGregor
Falkirk
READ MORE: Row as SNP MP 'called antisemite' in debate on Gaza ceasefire motion
THE SNP and the Labour Party seem currently to be deeply engrossed in a political chess game. The SNP put forward a motion in the House of Commons calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, more it seems in the hope of embarrassing some members of the Labour Party who will not support it than actually influencing events more than 2000 miles away in Gaza. Labour hopes that by calling for an increase in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies they can portray the SNP as supporting these companies’ obscene profits.
While these tactical political games are being played out in the Scottish and UK political bubbles, real people are suffering real hardship in the real world.
READ MORE: David Pratt returns to Ukraine to deliver reporting in The National
In Scotland, the latest blow is that plans to build new hospitals, surgeries and a network of treatment centres in Scotland have been put on hold.
At least a dozen NHS construction projects across Scotland have been delayed or paused for up to two years as a result of budget pressures. Health boards were told by the Scottish Government that no money was currently available for the building schemes. Independent experts have warned it was unlikely NHS Scotland would “survive” without extra funding this year.
The biggest project facing delays is a network of 10 treatment centres across Scotland. This network was intended to deliver at least 40,000 additional elective surgeries, diagnostics and other procedures per year by 2026. Only last week, Health Secretary Neil Gray said these treatment centres were part of his “overriding mission” to increase capacity in Scotland’s NHS. What happened to your mission in the space of a week, Neil?
READ MORE: Scottish health board apologises after 'disgusting' hospital food post
Sadly the government of Israel is not waiting for the outcome of a vote in the UK Parliament to revise is military strategy and the oil and gas industry will always find ways to empty our wallets and bank accounts regardless of the levels of taxation imposed on it.
Is it not time to call a halt to the chess game and for both sides to concentrate a bit more on matters closer to home?
Dr Iain Evans
Edinburgh
THE English Labour Glasgow jamboree is thankfully over. And northern supervisor Anas Sarwar is back in line where he belongs, despite his recent boast that he would stand up to his boss – a tacit admission that Starmer doesn’t give a toss about Scotland.
Even if Sarwar did manage to locate his spine and confront Starmer on Labour’s refusal to back a Gaza ceasefire to end the genocide, on its hostility to workers, its support for the two-child benefit cap and bankers’ bonuses, it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference. Sarwar has MSPs like the hapless Daniel Johnson, who would rather breakfast with banksters to “discuss the cost-of-living crisis” than advocate for Scots who can’t afford to heat their homes.
READ MORE: George Foulkes: There should be 'consequences' for SNP spending
English Labour has nothing but contempt for Scotland. Its cunning plan to create GB Energy is no more than a shell company for the ongoing plunder of Scotland’s renewable energy resources, and won’t change the fact that the Scottish cash cow will continue to be milked by the colonial power.
Josh Simons of Labour Together expressed this contempt perfectly when he said that people traffickers should be put on a barge and shipped “up to the north of Scotland for all I … you know, who cares?”
The contingent of SNP MPs shouldn’t waste another day warming Westminster’s green benches, but come home to help liberate their nation.
Leah Gunn Barrett
Edinburgh
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