*Rishi Sunak will circumvent Holyrood to implement key policies if he becomes prime minister because “we cannot trust the SNP to act in the best interests of the Scottish people”, his most prominent Scots Tory supporter has said.*
Writing for The Times, Andrew Bowie, the West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine MP, said that the former chancellor played a key role in UK “levelling-up” funds being handed to councils in a move which bypassed the Scottish parliament and enabled Whitehall to invest directly in communities.
In Scotland about £20 million was awarded to West Dunbartonshire in the first round for a series of projects including revamping the Artizan shopping centre and transforming its oldest building into a library and museum.
Applications for the second round of the £4.8 billion pot opened today and will run until August 2.
In a veiled swipe at rival Tory leadership candidates, Bowie, a former vice-chairman of the UK Conservatives, said that Sunak went beyond “easy platitudinous phrases that make us feel good about ourselves and our past” when talking about the Union.
This will be interpreted as a rebuke to some Scottish Tories who noted Sunak’s failure to emphasise a commitment to the Union in his campaign launch. The omission was compounded by comments from 2017 in which he said it would be “hard to block a referendum” which should take place after Brexit was concluded. Other candidates say a decade should elapse before another Union vote.
“He has led the pushback against the ‘devolve and forget’ mentality that permeates Whitehall,” Bowie said. “The easy, lazy approach to governing that says, ‘Scotland? Pass it to Holyrood’. He knows that with their record in government, we cannot trust the Scottish National Party to act in the best interests of the Scottish people — only in the interests of the SNP.
“He does it not because it’s easy, or popular. He does it because it is the right thing to do, and because he is a unionist to his core.” Bowie’s claim that Sunak “ensured that the SNP agreed to freeports coming to Scotland” has, however, attracted scepticism.
Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary and a Boris Johnson loyalist, led the negotiations with Kate Forbes, the Scottish finance secretary, that resulted in an agreement to create sites exempt from customs duty.
It is understood that although the Treasury agreed to back the tax breaks required for a second freeport in Scotland, giving the country more than its population share, the £25 million seed funding to set it up was found by Michael Gove when he was levelling-up secretary.
“The fact is it was down to Alister and Gove,” said a source close to the negotiations, who added that Bowie’s version was “a little bit of rewriting history”. Gillian Martin, the SNP MSP for Aberdeenshire East, said that Sunak had planned to end furlough while Covid-19 restrictions remained in Scotland, only U-turning when the rules were extended in England. She also criticised the Treasury’s approach to freeports.
“By undermining devolution the Tories are burying the idea of the UK as a partnership of equal nations and trying to take control away from the people of Scotland, and into the hands of Westminster Tories they didn’t vote for,” she said.
Tories continue in their attacks on democracy.
The Scottish voting for the last government was for who they wanted to govern the Scots via devolved powers. That should never be meddled with by Westminster Tory MPs or you undermine the whole system. They don’t need to trust the SNP in power as it’s not their place.
I get tired of these politicians second guessing the voters. Let the voting public have what they voted for at the time and let it run its course.
Rishi Sunak ‘will cause national crisis’
That is to say, he’s campaigning to get the top executive seat in the UK by loudly and proudly campaigning that he’s willing to ignore and circumvent the results of democratic elections if he doesn’t like them?
Well, that’s a bold strategy. Don’t think it’ll work out, though.
Scotland joined the UK willingly by vote but chaining them down when they talk of leaving undoes that.
If you wish to calm Independence talk then Tories must fulfil Cameron’s promises that still haven’t came. Showing more respect not less is the answer.
Further erosion of our democratic rights in the UK.
Does he have any connections to the trilateral commission by chance?
Imagine if the EU had said that about the UK and Westminster…
Ah, so can we circumvent Westminster because we don’t trust the Tories then?
>Rishi Sunak ‘will circumvent Holyrood because he cannot trust SNP’…
…to increase investment in areas ignored by the SNP, as per the article. SNP running scared of Rishi at the moment.
I might not like sturgeon and I might think Scotlands independence plans are foolish, but this is just simply wrong, It shouldn’t be happening and such comments really should get him barred from any form of leadership position, since it’s subverting this countries democracy
11 comments
*Rishi Sunak will circumvent Holyrood to implement key policies if he becomes prime minister because “we cannot trust the SNP to act in the best interests of the Scottish people”, his most prominent Scots Tory supporter has said.*
Writing for The Times, Andrew Bowie, the West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine MP, said that the former chancellor played a key role in UK “levelling-up” funds being handed to councils in a move which bypassed the Scottish parliament and enabled Whitehall to invest directly in communities.
In Scotland about £20 million was awarded to West Dunbartonshire in the first round for a series of projects including revamping the Artizan shopping centre and transforming its oldest building into a library and museum.
Applications for the second round of the £4.8 billion pot opened today and will run until August 2.
In a veiled swipe at rival Tory leadership candidates, Bowie, a former vice-chairman of the UK Conservatives, said that Sunak went beyond “easy platitudinous phrases that make us feel good about ourselves and our past” when talking about the Union.
This will be interpreted as a rebuke to some Scottish Tories who noted Sunak’s failure to emphasise a commitment to the Union in his campaign launch. The omission was compounded by comments from 2017 in which he said it would be “hard to block a referendum” which should take place after Brexit was concluded. Other candidates say a decade should elapse before another Union vote.
“He has led the pushback against the ‘devolve and forget’ mentality that permeates Whitehall,” Bowie said. “The easy, lazy approach to governing that says, ‘Scotland? Pass it to Holyrood’. He knows that with their record in government, we cannot trust the Scottish National Party to act in the best interests of the Scottish people — only in the interests of the SNP.
“He does it not because it’s easy, or popular. He does it because it is the right thing to do, and because he is a unionist to his core.” Bowie’s claim that Sunak “ensured that the SNP agreed to freeports coming to Scotland” has, however, attracted scepticism.
Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary and a Boris Johnson loyalist, led the negotiations with Kate Forbes, the Scottish finance secretary, that resulted in an agreement to create sites exempt from customs duty.
It is understood that although the Treasury agreed to back the tax breaks required for a second freeport in Scotland, giving the country more than its population share, the £25 million seed funding to set it up was found by Michael Gove when he was levelling-up secretary.
“The fact is it was down to Alister and Gove,” said a source close to the negotiations, who added that Bowie’s version was “a little bit of rewriting history”. Gillian Martin, the SNP MSP for Aberdeenshire East, said that Sunak had planned to end furlough while Covid-19 restrictions remained in Scotland, only U-turning when the rules were extended in England. She also criticised the Treasury’s approach to freeports.
“By undermining devolution the Tories are burying the idea of the UK as a partnership of equal nations and trying to take control away from the people of Scotland, and into the hands of Westminster Tories they didn’t vote for,” she said.
Tories continue in their attacks on democracy.
The Scottish voting for the last government was for who they wanted to govern the Scots via devolved powers. That should never be meddled with by Westminster Tory MPs or you undermine the whole system. They don’t need to trust the SNP in power as it’s not their place.
I get tired of these politicians second guessing the voters. Let the voting public have what they voted for at the time and let it run its course.
Rishi Sunak ‘will cause national crisis’
That is to say, he’s campaigning to get the top executive seat in the UK by loudly and proudly campaigning that he’s willing to ignore and circumvent the results of democratic elections if he doesn’t like them?
Well, that’s a bold strategy. Don’t think it’ll work out, though.
Scotland joined the UK willingly by vote but chaining them down when they talk of leaving undoes that.
If you wish to calm Independence talk then Tories must fulfil Cameron’s promises that still haven’t came. Showing more respect not less is the answer.
Further erosion of our democratic rights in the UK.
Does he have any connections to the trilateral commission by chance?
Imagine if the EU had said that about the UK and Westminster…
Ah, so can we circumvent Westminster because we don’t trust the Tories then?
>Rishi Sunak ‘will circumvent Holyrood because he cannot trust SNP’…
…to increase investment in areas ignored by the SNP, as per the article. SNP running scared of Rishi at the moment.
I might not like sturgeon and I might think Scotlands independence plans are foolish, but this is just simply wrong, It shouldn’t be happening and such comments really should get him barred from any form of leadership position, since it’s subverting this countries democracy