Why 'keep the Tories out' won't work in Scotland this election
Why 'keep the Tories out' won't work in Scotland this election
- It is not the least of the curiosities of the UK general election in Scotland that all the opposition parties advise the electorate to vote for them to stop another independence referendum. It is “Indyref2”, not Brexit, that dominates the campaign north of Berwick.
The Scottish Tories, now the official opposition in Holyrood, have concluded their trump card is to portray themselves as the only solid defenders of the union. Labour, weakened by a disastrous showing in 2015 when they lost 41 of 42 seats, is following suit.
The SNP has made much of the fact that many pledges in Labour’s manifesto are already facts of Scottish life. Prescription charges have been abolished, as have tuition fees. There is free personal care for the elderly – albeit of uneven quality – and no hospital parking charges except for three premises with particular historical contracts. The NHS pay review was honoured, the “bedroom tax” mitigated by central funding and there has been a wholesale push for renewable energy.
- It is not the least of the curiosities of the UK general election in Scotland that all the opposition parties advise the electorate to vote for them to stop another independence referendum. It is “Indyref2”, not Brexit, that dominates the campaign north of Berwick.
The Scottish Tories, now the official opposition in Holyrood, have concluded their trump card is to portray themselves as the only solid defenders of the union. Labour, weakened by a disastrous showing in 2015 when they lost 41 of 42 seats, is following suit.
The SNP has made much of the fact that many pledges in Labour’s manifesto are already facts of Scottish life. Prescription charges have been abolished, as have tuition fees. There is free personal care for the elderly – albeit of uneven quality – and no hospital parking charges except for three premises with particular historical contracts. The NHS pay review was honoured, the “bedroom tax” mitigated by central funding and there has been a wholesale push for renewable energy.