SCOTTISH Tory leader Douglas Ross has added his voice to criticism of Westminster’s plans to reduce Scotland’s number of MPs, accusing the Boundary Commission of wanting to “carve up” his own constituency.
While Ross is not planning to run in the next General Election, he said he could not support the plans to split Moray into three newly named seats – Highland East and Elgin, Banff and Buchan, and Gordon and Moray South.
Richard Thomson, who currently represents the Gordon area for the SNP, has joked that he would “enjoy” standing against Ross in an upcoming vote, but added he hopes Scotland will be independent before the next General Election.
READ MORE: Constituency boundary changes: The Scottish seats set to change most
Generally though, the SNP have been highly critical of the proposals from Boundary Commission Scotland. The proposals would reduce Scotland’s number of MPs from 59 to 57, while also cutting Wales’s total and giving England 10 more constituencies.
Kirsten Oswald, the party’s deputy Westminster leader, said: “Tory plans to further reduce Scotland’s representation at Westminster, while increasing the number of MPs for England, underlines the need for Scotland to become an independent country – in full control of our own democratic decisions and with the full powers needed to build a stronger, fairer and greener future.”
Ross, who also represents the Highlands and Islands region at Holyrood, was also vocally opposed to the plans.
“While I have already said that I will not be fighting the Moray seat at the next election, as the current MP I can’t support the proposals to carve-up the Moray constituency,” he commented.
“It has been a huge honour to represent my home area as the local MP, but under these proposals, many historic local links would be lost and Moray’s identity diluted. The current seat works well as all the electors are within the Moray Council area and are represented by a single MP. Under these plans the same area would be represented by three MPs who would also be dealing with Highland or Aberdeenshire areas.
“The Boundary Commission need to go back to the drawing board and re-think these plans. I will be opposing them as I strongly believe the present Moray seat is best option for the area and local residents.
“I know the Boundary Commission have a difficult job, but I hope they will look again at their proposals and see that the correct decision is to maintain this long-standing seat.”
READ MORE: Jonathan Powell: 'UK can't keep Scotland in Union if it doesn't want to stay'
Kirsten Oswald, the SNP's Westminster deputy leader, said "it would have been nice" to see Ross express similar outrage over the £20-a-week Universal Credit cut or National Insurance increase. "On those occasions, Mr Ross was posted missing," she told The National.
"The UK Government's plans to further reduce Scotland's representation at Westminster, while increasing the number of MPs for England, underlines the need for Scotland to become an independent country - and Douglas Ross must realise that.
"The SNP will continue to oppose this direct attack on Scotland's voice within the UK Parliament, but the reality is we will always be outvoted under the broken Westminster system.
"Independence is the only way to keep Scotland safe from damaging Westminster decisions."
Despite the complaints, the deputy chair of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, Lord Matthews, says he believes the consultation is a “promising start”.
“Thursday is the beginning of a process and we now want to hear the views of the public. We will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage voters to make their views heard,” he said.
The public is free to comment on the proposals at www.bcs2023review.com
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