SNP hit out at seven years of 'broken promises' from Better Together

On this day in 2014, the result of the vote which meant Scotland stayed within the UK had emerged.

Keith Brown, depute leader of the SNP, said many of the promises made by Unionist parties which persuaded people to vote No have since been broken. He said the most obvious was the pledge by campaigners of the Union was that the way to protect Scotland’s place in Europe was to reject independence.

But now, despite every constituency in Scotland voting Remain in 2016, the country is being “dragged out of the EU against our will and in the Tories reckless pursuit of the hardest of Brexits”, he said.

Brown also said a statement by the No campaign that the Union was “better placed to support the most vulnerable in Scotland” had been shown to be false by the Tory government’s plans to cut the Universal Credit uplift.

This has led to a huge backlash and was described by one charity as the biggest cut to social security since the end of the Second World War.

The promise of “extensive new powers” for Holyrood made as part of “The Vow” by the three Westminster party leaders has also failed, Brown said.

He added that suggestions made about cutting Scotland’s budget in the aftermath of the Brexit vote did not meet up to The Vow’s “clear promise” to continue the Barnett allocation for resources.

Brown criticised the introduction of English Votes for English Laws as it left Scottish MPs unable to consider Barnett consequentials on legislation deemed as English only.

He said while pensioners had been told independence would be a timebomb for them, poverty among this age group is on the rise after a “decade of Tory austerity cuts”.

On the seventh “broken promise”, Brown said: “We were told by Labour that there would be no need for independence because they would sweep to power and sort everything out – yet Scotland is now suffering its third Tory prime minister since 2014.

“We simply can’t let this continue.”

He added: “With an ever-growing list of broken promises, people in Scotland don’t believe a word the Unionist parties say anymore – and who can blame them?

“The UK Westminster Government has misled and mistreated the people of Scotland for so long that it’s no wonder that support for independence is continuing to grow.

“Why would anyone feel like they can trust a UK Government that appears content with constantly breaking promises, content with pushing thousands of families into poverty and content with making us pay the price for the Tories’ damaging Brexit obsession?

“It’s now clearer than ever we cannot trust the Tories to protect the future of Scotland.

“That is why it is so important Scotland has the choice to forge a different, better path with independence.”

Writing in The Herald yesterday to mark the referendum anniversary, Blair Jenkins, who headed the Yes campaign, said Brexit provided the “compelling illustration” of the need for independence.

He pointed to analysis that concluded devolution is “at or near its limits” and to the small chance of a Labour win in the next UK election.

“It’s not just that a referendum is the right thing to happen in Scotland,” he added.

“If the UK is a genuine democracy, it is the only thing that can happen.”

Blair McDougall (above), who was head of the Better Together campaign, claimed it is the Scottish people and not Boris Johnson stopping what he called “Scexit”.

“Despite their total dominance of politics, despite 15 years of every resource of the Scottish Government, and despite everything the Conservatives have gifted them, voters remain stubbornly unconvinced,” he added.