THE National has had a foretaste of what the "change" that Keir Starmer promises is going to mean in practice. It will mean an authoritarian control freakery which puts the Tories to shame.

Last month, this newspaper got wind of a story reportedly involving a senior member of the Labour Party who had been reported to Police Scotland for alleged breaches of electoral law. However, the story was quickly squashed by Labour, which threatened legal action if The National reported the facts of the story.

It is a matter of fact that a senior Labour figure had been reported to Police Scotland, but the Labour Party threatened legal action in order to stop the public learning about the story.

Other politicians have been named in public after they have been reported to the police. A case in point is the very public and unedifying witch-hunt which ensued when Nicola Sturgeon was reported to Police Scotland. Labour party figures were front and foremost in the trial by tabloid which surrounded the story.

It was the same story when SNP minister Michael Matheson was reported to the police twice this year over the £11,000 bill for the roaming charges which he ran up on a parliamentary iPad. Police Scotland eventually said that no action would be taken, but the story was covered by the press, both when the report was made and when the police said no criminal investigation would take place.

(Image: PA)

Each time the story was reported it was accompanied by a public display of pearl clutching from Labour and Conservative politicians. Jackie Baillie was very quick to give a quote to The Sun and demanded that "appropriate action" must be taken against the SNP MSP. There was not the slightest hint in Baillie's gleeful denunciations of Matheson and the SNP that her party thinks it is a gross calumny to report in public that a politician has been reported to the police. It's only Labour politicians who merit that protection.

In a strongly worded letter from their expensive lawyer, the Labour Party insisted that naming the politician concerned would be grossly defamatory. It also asserted that publishing the story would be in breach of electoral law - a "corrupt practice" and potentially a "criminal offence", one that could result in jail for the journalists responsible. Sensitive much?

As is so common with the Labour Party and with British nationalists in general, it is inconceivable to them that they should be subject to the same standards that they demand the SNP is held to. Holding politicians to account only applies when it concerns SNP and Scottish independence-supporting parties.

The police ultimately decided that no further action would be taken, but the overreaction of the Labour Party to the mere suggestion that the politician's name might be made public is a worrying portent of what we are in for should the polls be correct, and Starmer wins a crushing Commons majority on Thursday, albeit on around 40% of the votes cast in a general election in which turn out could well be low.

Starmer is not a man who intends to be held to account.

During this election campaign the Labour leader has refused to participate in debates involving party leaders other than his Tory opponent. He has ruthlessly purged the Labour Party of his critics on the left.

The National has previous experience of the Labour Party's attempts to evade meaningful scrutiny and criticism. In February, journalists were barred from attending a lobbying event organised by the Scottish Labour Business Forum held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Glasgow.

The party refused to provide a list of attendees or any details about the agenda. The event was billed as promising to "facilitate the highest quality engagement between Labour politicians and the business community".

The event featured contributions from shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, deputy Scottish Labour leader Baillie, shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray, and “other senior members of the UK and Scottish shadow cabinet and frontbench”. None of the senior Labour politicians reportedly in attendance responded to requests for more details about the event.

Labour in Scotland has regularly shut out journalists from The National from press releases and press information, while providing it to media outlets which are supportive of Labour's anti-independence agenda.

Once in office, Starmer will continue this pattern of behaviour, further closing down the already weak and ineffectual means that the Westminster system provides for holding the government to account. With some polls suggesting that Starmer could have a majority in excess of 200 in the House of Commons, he will be able to steamroll any opposition and shrug off any attempts at scrutiny or criticism.

All is not well for the Scottish Tories

Meanwhile, all is not at all well amongst the Scottish Tories, who are getting their recriminations in early ahead of the vote on Thursday which could see the Conservatives suffer their worst ever defeat and potentially be wiped out in Scotland and Wales.

According to a report in The Times, the party has descended into civil wars with senior figures calling for a clear-out at the top of the party and a senior Scottish Tory MSP denouncing the party's campaign as "shambolic". A Scottish Tory source told the newspaper the campaign was “the most inept” in the party’s history.

Fingers are being pointed at Douglas Ross for elbowing his way into the candidacy of sitting MP David Duguid's seat. Duguid, who is suffering from health issues, was blocked from standing despite saying he wished to contest the seat and claiming to have the support of local party members. Ross installed himself, seeking a better prospect in Duguid's seat rather than stand in his own with its razor thin majority.

This is despite the fact that Ross had previously promised to stand down from Westminster at this election in order to concentrate on leading the Tories in Holyrood. The furore led Ross to announce that he will be standing down as Scottish Tory leader.