SNP CHALLENGES TORY LEADERSHIP HOPEFULS.
KEY QUESTIONS AS PM CONTENDERS VISIT SCOTLAND.
With the Tory leadership contenders at a hustings in Scotland today (Friday) – the SNP has challenged them to answer five crucial questions before they get the keys to Number 10.
Last week the SNP revealed that little separates the Tory front runners, with Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson voting exactly the same way on 98% of issues at Westminster.
The pair’s track record is abysmal when it comes to treating Scotland with respect. The SNP has said that if that if Scotland’s interests continue to be side-lined then the Tory vote will plummet – after Ruth Davidson’s party received less than 12% of the national vote in the recent EU elections.
The SNP’s five key questions for Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are:
Will you respect Scotland’s vote to remain in the EU? Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in Europe and should not have the damage of a Tory Brexit forced upon us.
Will you end austerity and halt the damage of Tory welfare cuts on people in Scotland?
Will you rule out a power grab on Scotland’s parliament?
Where Holyrood has the powers, it has made better decisions over delivering better public services – but too many of the levers still lie at Westminster. Will you transfer further powers to the Scottish Parliament to help Scotland grow our population, bolster our economy and build a fairer more prosperous country?
Do you accept that the people of Scotland have the right to decide the best future for our country? It should not be for Westminster governments to stop us from seeking a referendum on independence.
Commenting, the SNP’s Depute Leader Keith Brown MSP said:
“We know that both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt as Prime Minister would be an utter disaster for Scotland.
“They are both rabid Brexiteers who would happily ignore the fact that Scotland voted to remain in Europe, and hammer our economy by dragging us off the Brexit cliff edge. And they’ve voted together to inflict misery on families with relentless austerity and punishing welfare cuts.
“If either of them want to show some respect to the people of Scotland they’ve got some big questions to answer.
“Will they remove the very imminent threat of a Holyrood power grab under the guise of Brexit?
“Will they transfer further powers to help tackle the challenges Scotland faces, instead of slamming devolution into reverse?
“Will they undo the damage of a decade of Tory austerity, instead of piling on yet more economic misery with a hard Brexit?
“And do they accept that the people of Scotland have the right to decide what sort of country they want – instead of contemptible highhandedness of Westminster governments telling us that we can’t?
“The more the Tories ignore these major questions, and ignore Scotland’s interests, the more support for independence will continue to grow and grow.”