AS most of my time recently has been occupied by active participation in the General Election, I felt it relevant now to take stock and comment on what is happening now in the political landscape.

The election in Scotland has polarised around “getting Brexit done” and “indyref2”. The Tories and the SNP are of course pursuing opposite outcomes of both messages. It is quite clear that history will label this the 2019 “Leave versus Remain election” – the first election that blurred totally the political party boundaries where Labour/Conservative supporters and even SNP Leavers will have voted for the party of Brexit and where Remainers in the Labour/Conservative/SNP /LibDems will have chosen a party of Remain. 

READ MORE: If the Tories win a majority, here’s a silver lining

In Scotland, Tory Remainers will most certainly have voted LibDem, and also to register their dislike of a second independence referendum. The outcome in Scotland? There is little doubt the SNP will win the election in Scotland, having achieved more than the 30 seats needed. The upside of the first-past-the-post Westminster system! 

“A vote for the party is a vote for independence” has been the clear message of Nicola Sturgeon, no ifs no buts! Once again another mandate (in fact the third one) for holding a second referendum. The Tories, Labour and the LibDems once again will be the minority parties in Scotland.

What about Westminster! There is little doubt that the Tories will win with a reasonable majority and Scotland will once again get a party we did not vote for, which operates a branch office in Holyrood which is in a minority in the day-to-day government of Scotland. How’s that for a governing conundrum! 

READ MORE: What a stark contrast between the campaigns of the PM and the FM

Scotland will remain a poor relation within a broken Britain. Even if the SNP captured all 59 seats it would, as we have seen with 56, have no influence at all and the needs of Scotland will be either ignored or treated with contempt by Westminster, with its focus in the south-east of England. A crucial difference of the new Conservative government will be its right-wing policies, its attraction to populism and a disregard for democratic rights. 

Believe me, the likely new Tory government is going to be the gold standard for laissez-faire market economics that will make Margaret Thatcher look like a socialist. The Johnson government will only support and reward the wealthy, the big investors, big business and those with power and influence. It will be a country that will drive workers’ rights, wages and welfare to the bottom. 

The country of Boris Johnson will be opened, without controls, to the Trumps of this world “just to get the deal”. In post-Brexit Britain we will sacrificed on the altar of reactionary government policies to provide easy money and returns to big business and the well-off speculator.

Finally, let’s look at the post-General Election “crystal ball”. What should Scotland do?

We certainly know what Scotland can expect! We can expect Scotland to continue to be ignored on the UK stage. We can expect the Tories to not only impoverish the UK but bring economic and social misery to all Scots. A Brexit “No Deal” is still on the cards by the end of 2020. 

On top of this impending economic disaster, a Johnson government of right-wing politicians will have as a key constitutional policy the dismantling of devolution and in the longer term the destruction of our Holyrood parliament. 
This is not scaremongering; it’s a real possibility. They will use all legal powers to make it happen.

What can we do? Our government as a matter of urgency must prepare both a defensive and offensive strategy ready for the right-wing onslaught about to descend on our democracy and parliament. I have my own thoughts, but that’s another letter!

Dan Wood 
Kirriemuir