I’m still not sure why we’re having a snap General Election – which will cost the UK taxpayer £115M – but let’s make sure it is worth it… the Tories called the election with an overall majority and they were racing through their agenda which has been a disaster for the UK on pretty much every level (30 clear examples are captured here if you’re unsure on that). Removing their majority or even better, removing them from government has to be the objective.
This creates a scenario where it may seem that voting Labour is the obvious option – and although that is the best alternative that we can hope for (and for a nice change, it does look like a good alternative) – however that is definitely not the case, particularly in Scotland. Take a look at the UK wide Tactical2017 website – a site that takes your postcode and tells you who is best placed to ensure the Tories to do not win the seat – and you’ll see that for most Scottish postcodes, the SNP are the best option.
The reason to vote SNP goes beyond the potential to remove the Tories though, their policies and how they sit alongside Labour’s policies, are the reason that I really hope the SNP return as many or more MPs than they did in 2015 (56/59 seats).
Suki Sangha captured a dilemma that I’m sure many are going through (& if you take just the first 2 points I imagine a lot more people will be captured):
Angela Haggerty put a series of tweets together on why anyone pro-independence would really be advised against voting for Scottish Labour, and there are a few key points for me which go beyond that:
- Protecting Scotland’s economy during Brexit: The different options that could be pursued following the Brexit vote have barely featured in the campaign, aside from Theresa May repeatedly lying that no deal is better than a bad deal. The SNP have been clear since the Brexit vote that they want the UK to remain in the Single Market and have set out in their manifesto that they will seek to be involved in the Brexit negotiations to ensure Scotland’s economy is accounted for in the future arrangement. The importance of this to Scotland’s economy cannot be overstated.
- The SNP will ensure Corbyn can deliver his more progressive ideas: Corbyn’s time as leader of the Labour party has endured continual attacks from within the party – and Scottish Labour have been at the forefront of that. Most certainly that will be because the Labour manifesto presents a number of policies for England that are common to SNP policy in Scotland (such as scrapping tuition fees). Nicola Sturgeon has been clear that she would look to form a progressive alliance to make Corbyn PM if the Tories don’t have a majority.
- The independence movement: The unionist parties continually claim that there is no appetite for independence, despite the polls being 50/50 and of course the fact that a majority of the Scottish Parliament voted for a 2nd independence referendum to be put to the Scottish electorate following the Brexit negotiations. Kezia Dugdale (Scottish Labour leader) has given a cast iron guarantee that she will oppose a 2nd referendum – personally I don’t see how anyone who respects the democratic process for triggering a referendum could vote for that.
- Weapons of Mass Destruction: The cost for the next generation Trident was last presented at £205bn (which for some perspective, is more than 6 times the annual Scottish Government budget) – the SNP propose that we should scrap Trident. The Labour party commit to supporting the next generation system, which is an appalling and immoral waste that I could never vote for.
As a closing point, I’d like to pay tribute to what goes down as the all time greatest audience intervention at a BBC Question Time – she highlights the madness of fomenting over mass murder perfectly and then went on to raise an important issue on how terrible Tory policy has been directly impacting her family life. Hopefully a more compassionate government will be in place soon…
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