AT a time when the Conservative government at Westminster are running riot with the economy, rewarding higher earners and bankers, slashing workers’ rights and abandoning the vulnerable and poor, a two-week shut down of Westminster for the conference session seems abhorrent, yet that is what is happening right now!
The only party calling for this recess to be cancelled in light of the suffering and stress currently being endured by millions of households are the SNP.
READ MORE: Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng need to be removed from office immediately
The Conservatives and the new Chancellor presented a “mini-Budget” on Friday knowing that limited scrutiny would follow as a result of parliament going into a two-week recess, effectively denying any chance of MPs holding the government to account.
The shuddering consequences that have followed days later with a sinking pound, pending interest-rate rise affecting mortgage payers, business insecurity and much more, demands action. Parliament and the Prime Minister needs to recognise the seriousness of the economic situation their government are putting the country in and recall parliament with immediate effect.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
SO Sir Keir Starmer, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, won’t do any deals with the SNP to get the Tories out of power in London (Starmer nets applause for vow to snub SNP, Sep 28).
I have often pondered that Labour would rather a millennium of Tory rule in London than parties of any hue leading an independent Scotland from Edinburgh.
It now appears they would prefer perpetual Tory rule in London to forming a Labour government in London, if that government required a separate Scottish voice to get them there. Whatever happened to Gordon Brown’s “Scotland should lead the UK not leave it”?
READ MORE: Ex Tory MSP Adam Tomkins calls for LABOUR government in fierce attack on his own party
It makes a mockery of every policy announcement that Labour makes because, if push comes to shove, they will always back the Tories and the British Union rather than serve the people for whom the Labour Party was created.
Frankly, it seems to me that the English could do with some of the progressive policies delivered by the SNP to, if nothing else, ease some of the current cost-of-living pressures created by successive Labour and Tory governments. However, the very people those policies would benefit are expendable in Labour’s pursuit to be more Tory than the Tories themselves.
Kevin Cordell
Dundee
PERENNIALLY we have heard Labour Party politicians lambast the existence of the House of Lords but whenever they have come into government at Westminster, instead of abolishing this non-democratic and archaic British institution more Labour Party cronies have unashamedly been appointed (or should that be anointed).
During the Smith Commission negotiations, the party of “Home Rule” thwarted the granting of more powers to the Holyrood parliament in spite of vows made and claiming to want the opposite during the referendum campaign. Recently we heard Anas Sarwar, the party’s representative (or should that be puppet) in Scotland, declare ahead of local council elections that they would have “no coalitions” with the other parties yet in a number of councils they have regressively gone into partnerships with Tory councillors.
Now party members have voted in favour of the introduction of proportional representation for General Elections yet the leader of the party has declared that if the party wins the next General Election but does not gain an overall majority in the House of Commons then the party “won’t work” with the SNP to form a new progressive UK Government.
When did the Labour Party lose its social democratic principles?
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
IT looks like Sir Keir Starmer believes that a vote in England is worth more than a vote in Scotland. If the Labour Party doesn’t take their hoped-for seats in Scotland from the SNP and the Tories have a few more seats than Labour, he will bow to the preference of the English voters and give the UK another right-wing Tory government. The position in Scotland is now crystal clear: vote SNP – get SNP; vote Labour, Tory or LibDem – get Tory.
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
I HAVE been reading about the Labour Party conference and in particular the general take on Scotland. It seems we Scots are very stupid. We are unable to understand how awful our government is, how non-left-wing it is, how centralising it is. Some clown even suggests that our very democratic d’Hondt system gives rise to fascist power. It seems we are so dim that we are unable to grasp how much better everything would be if we would just vote Labour. Aye right!
These people insult our intelligence and expect us to vote for them. They call us separatist because we wish to be part of Europe. What they know about Scotland would fit on the back of a small envelope.
Robert Mill Irving
Gifford, East Lothian
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here