https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A70n6YG7LLs
This is an interesting interview (from a Scottish viewpoint) with Sinn Fein's leader, Mary Lou McDonald at a time when I've occasionally wondered, " Where on earth is Sinn Fein during this whole sorry Brexit mess and particularly where much of the debate centres on the Irish back stop"? It is curious how she is more or less implying that Scottish MPs should similarly withdraw their presence from Westminster for the good reasons following observations for a long time on bbctv broadcasts of PM Questions and she is accurate in that assessment because I've watched enough of these broadcasts to verify that accuracy.
Boycott Parliament? I can perceive valid cases on both sides regarding whether the SNP should take their seats, and it’s perhaps worth taking a moment to outline them.
The pro-boycott line is that Scotland’s MPs are consistently ignored and even openly derided. (The latter is impossible to dispute if you ever watch Scottish Questions in the Commons, where Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MPs alike jeer and catcall and abuse any SNP MP who has the temerity to speak for Scottish interests). Therefore they achieve nothing by turning up except to allow Scotland to be disrespected and belittled.
And the UK government doesn’t, as a matter of policy, acknowledge Scotland’s MPs as a bloc representing the nation even when they act across party loyalties. During negotiations over the Scotland Bill in 2015, MPs representing 58 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies were united on a number of demands, yet every one of them was overruled peremptorily by a government with just a single Scottish MP.
Finally, of course, the UK Parliament frequently actively blocks the democratic will not only of Scotland’s MPs in the Commons but of Scotland’s own elected Parliament. Holyrood has a standing mandate for a second independence referendum, passed by a Scottish Parliament comprising five proportionately-represented parties including three Unionist ones, yet Westminster simply refuses to obey the normal rules of a parliamentary democracy by enacting that mandate.
So given that Scottish MPs have only 9% of the UK Parliament’s votes and will almost always be subject to being overridden by the government of the day, the argument runs that a boycott makes a strong statement and denies legitimacy to a government which has no democratic mandate in Scotland and demonstrates no respect for the wishes of Scotland as a nation.
This is an interesting interview (from a Scottish viewpoint) with Sinn Fein's leader, Mary Lou McDonald at a time when I've occasionally wondered, " Where on earth is Sinn Fein during this whole sorry Brexit mess and particularly where much of the debate centres on the Irish back stop"? It is curious how she is more or less implying that Scottish MPs should similarly withdraw their presence from Westminster for the good reasons following observations for a long time on bbctv broadcasts of PM Questions and she is accurate in that assessment because I've watched enough of these broadcasts to verify that accuracy.
Boycott Parliament? I can perceive valid cases on both sides regarding whether the SNP should take their seats, and it’s perhaps worth taking a moment to outline them.
The pro-boycott line is that Scotland’s MPs are consistently ignored and even openly derided. (The latter is impossible to dispute if you ever watch Scottish Questions in the Commons, where Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MPs alike jeer and catcall and abuse any SNP MP who has the temerity to speak for Scottish interests). Therefore they achieve nothing by turning up except to allow Scotland to be disrespected and belittled.
And the UK government doesn’t, as a matter of policy, acknowledge Scotland’s MPs as a bloc representing the nation even when they act across party loyalties. During negotiations over the Scotland Bill in 2015, MPs representing 58 of Scotland’s 59 constituencies were united on a number of demands, yet every one of them was overruled peremptorily by a government with just a single Scottish MP.
Finally, of course, the UK Parliament frequently actively blocks the democratic will not only of Scotland’s MPs in the Commons but of Scotland’s own elected Parliament. Holyrood has a standing mandate for a second independence referendum, passed by a Scottish Parliament comprising five proportionately-represented parties including three Unionist ones, yet Westminster simply refuses to obey the normal rules of a parliamentary democracy by enacting that mandate.
So given that Scottish MPs have only 9% of the UK Parliament’s votes and will almost always be subject to being overridden by the government of the day, the argument runs that a boycott makes a strong statement and denies legitimacy to a government which has no democratic mandate in Scotland and demonstrates no respect for the wishes of Scotland as a nation.