![]() ![]() That stance, which echoes Labour’s attempt to win back leave voters in “red wall” seats by promising more powers for northern England, is an effort to appropriate the SNP’s central line of attack on the UK – that Westminster suffocates Scottish aspirations. In a reference to Labour’s pledge to abolish the House of Lords and increase the powers and independence of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, Starmer told delegates: “A huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.” He said the Scottish government should fight the UK government’s decision to block the gender recognition bill in court, in part to defend Holyrood’s autonomy. Yousaf, rumoured to be Sturgeon’s preferred candidate, said more time was needed to devise a fresh approach to independence. Regan, who quit Sturgeon’s government in protest at her gender recognition proposals, said she would scrap the first minister’s reform bill. Regan made an appeal to traditionalist SNP members by stating she would work with Alex Salmond’s hardline Alba breakaway party on independence. In competing interviews with the Sunday Mail newspaper, Yousaf and Regan immediately opened up deep divisions on the two biggest political challenges facing the SNP, on how to achieve independence and on gender recognition. Our voices matter and they must be heard,” she said on Twitter. “I believe it is vital that progressive voices, including those of women and young people, are central to our party, our government and to the Scotland we are seeking to build. Mairi McAllan, the environment minister, ruled herself out on Sunday, saying now was “not the right time” for her to compete in the leadership race. On Sunday, the health secretary, Humza Yousaf, and the former community safety minister Ash Regan confirmed that they would stand in the party’s leadership contest, with at least a further two candidates – Angus Robertson, the culture secretary, and Kate Forbes, the finance secretary – also expected to declare in the next 48 hours. Starmer delivered his speech five days after Sturgeon stunned her party and most Scottish voters by unexpectedly announcing that she was standing down as first minister and as SNP leader. “I’m utterly convinced about this – economic reform and political change must go hand in hand.” “Britain has an economy that hoards potential and a politics which hoards power, and these two problems feed off each other. “Those Scots who lost faith in Britain, they have a point about Westminster,” Starmer told Scottish Labour’s spring conference in Edinburgh on Sunday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |