A year on from election call, a weak Theresa May is still letting Scotland down
by Today marks a year since Theresa May made her ill-fated decision to call a General Election in an attempt to ‘strengthen her hand’.
The Tory leader failed to do that but it hasn’t stopped her letting down communities the length and breadth of Scotland.
Here’s what’s happened over the last year.
A dodgy deal with the DUP to cling on to power.
Following the election, Theresa May sought agreement with the DUP to form a government. Tory Scottish Secretary David Mundell said if any money came with the agreement, Scotland would get a share too.
The final deal came with a £1 billion price tag but nothing at all for Scotland, Wales or England. David Mundell then reversed course and defended the deal.
A budget with more extra resource spending for Brexit bureaucracy than the NHS.
The UK government continues to shortchange the NHS, while committing billions to pay for Brexit. In Scotland we’ve chosen a different path, delivering an extra £400 million in health spending this year. Read more about the Scottish NHS here.
Making a play for Holyrood’s powers.
The Tories’ EU Withdrawal Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, makes the legal changes required for the UK to leave the European Union. Some devolved powers like support for farmers or control of our seas, are exercised at an EU level and are subject to EU law. The Tories’ EU Withdrawal Bill makes a grab for these powers.
To prevent this ‘power grab’ the Scottish Government introduced a Scottish EU Continuity Bill, which was overwhelmingly passed with support from every party in the Scottish Parliament except the Tories. The UK government has now launched court action to quash the Bill in the Supreme Court.
Sign our petition and tell the Tories to end their power grab.
No halt in the roll-out of Universal Credit that is pushing people into poverty.
The Tory government in Westminster is introducing a new benefit, Universal Credit, that merges a number of other working-age benefits. From the outset the rollout has been a disaster, causing unnecessary hardship, with families falling behind in rent payments and increasingly relying on emergency welfare support and food banks.
Despite campaigns led by the SNP and Westminster voting to halt Universal Credit, the UK government has ploughed on with the roll out.
Launching a bombing campaign without Parliamentary approval.
Following the suspected use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, Theresa May launched military action in Syria without any prior approval from Parliament.
Following SNP pressure, the Prime Minister eventually conceded the need for a full emergency debate on the issue but only after bombing had been completed.