Westminster isn’t working…

Last week we saw the crumbling walls of Westminster further tarnish the reputation of the so-called ‘mother of all parliaments’ when the people of Scotland where denied the opportunity to make their voice heard over the ongoing conflict in the Gaza. With the civilian death toll now sitting at 30,000 - many of those lost lives being women and children - my Scottish National Party colleagues and I wanted to use one of our limited Opposition Days to put the ongoing atrocities in the Middle-East back at the heart of discussions.

What should have been a day focused squarely on ending the loss of innocent life, through an immediate ceasefire, quickly turned farcical as the Speaker of the House bent the rules following pressure from the Labour Leader. His actions in the face of horrific violence is telling of the fact that they really will do anything to gain power and, unfortunately, the people of Palestine are the ones who will pay the price for his cheap political games.

The Speaker has since admitted that he made an error in allowing the Labour Amendment to proceed and has advised that he would consider allowing the SNP to force a full and rigorous debate on a ceasefire, through a Section Order 24 (SO24). However, following the SNP’s submission of the SO24 the Speaker of the House advised Members on Monday 26 February that this would not be granted following consultation with the very Clerks that he chose to ignore last week.

I have joined my SNP colleagues in signing an Early Day Motion of No Confidence in the Speaker of the House. I believe that is position is no longer tenable.

But regardless of who sits in the Speaker’s chair, the reality is that this system is archaic and rotten to it’s very core.

There can be no doubt - Westminster isn’t working for Scotland.