'Broken Britain' makes the case for Scottish independence even stronger
The ‘rogues gallery’ of Conservative defectors to Reform UK insist Britain is broken. And they should know – because they helped break it
The past few weeks has witnessed a slow but reasonably steady procession of former senior government ministers making the dash to Reform. In the Commons, its MPs sit just behind the SNP so quite the rogues gallery is developing behind us in the cheap seats up the back. We have been promised more are on their way, and that might include former Labour figures too. Let’s see.
Britain is broken, we are told by these new recruits, as they express horror at the state of the UK. Reform’s newest members are keen to tell us how shocked they are to find out just how damaging the policies of UK administrations, past and present, have been.
The problem is that most of these ‘fresh’ recruits are about as new to politics as Donald Trump is to property deals and have quite full political pasts, including making decisions that were integral to damaging the UK societally and economically.
Implicated in the Truss disaster
Nigel Farage’s Reform is awash with members of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson’s top teams. But now Suella Braverman, Nadhim Zahawi, Robert Jenrick etc are all telling us just how awful past governments were and how culpable they all are in breaking Britain.
One commentator remarked this week that, with the latest political transfers, Reform now have a record in government that can be legitimately scrutinised. And what a track record it is.
The above were all ministers in Liz Truss’ short-lived and disastrous administration. That was a government which managed to do long-term harm to the UK’s global reputation, not least economically by pushing up mortgage rates and living costs for citizens across the UK – amongst all the damage inflicted by other Tory governments.
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Johnson’s hard Brexit
Before Liz Truss’ catastrophic premiership, we had Boris Johnson’s calamitous regime. He was an unserious Prime Minister utterly unsuited to the punishing challenge of managing a state during the pandemic. We were fortunate in Scotland to have some protection offered by the devolved institutions.
In the end it was his partying, as the rest of us stuck to the rules, that finished him, but that wasn’t all. During Boris Johnson’s tenure there was a significant increase in migration to the UK to offset some of the damage of ending EU freedom of movement. So, more people were encouraged to come to the UK, but its citizens lost their right to work and travel elsewhere in Europe.
Then, of course, there was the fundamental weakening of the UK caused by leaving the EU with the hardest of Brexits that Boris Johnson insisted on. It is worthy of note that ten years on from the referendum, no one is celebrating.
Of course, the Brexit diehards tell us that a real Brexit has never been tried, much like communists lament the lack of ‘real communism’. Most people agree it has been a mistake, with three quarters of Scots now saying we should rejoin the EU.
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Eye-watering cost of Brexit
They are ahead of the Westminster politicians. Boris Johnson’s Brexit is costing the UK £90 billion in lost tax revenues every year. To put that into perspective, the loss of tax receipts dwarfs the Scottish Government’s entire annual budget of £68bn. Brexit is costing £250 million a day.
These are policies endorsed by Reform and that their new, or rather not so new, politicians were central to implementing. To make matters worse, there are reports that those making the jump have an eye on a move to the Lords – the irony of arguing for democratic renewal whilst seeking a seat for life in a bloated House of Lords without the inconvenience of a vote.
Reform’s policy platform has already had devastating consequences, and they must take much of the blame for the state of the UK. Yet whilst my Labour and Conservatives colleagues criticise Reform’s dodgy policy agenda, they have less credibility doing so as they pursue many of the same policies.
On issues such as punitive immigration measures that hit key sectors to an expensive and damaging Brexit and a failure to make the UK’s democracy more accountable, they too must be held equally to account for the state of the UK.
A Holyrood election issue
And yes, that includes during the run-up to the Holyrood election. The First Minister spoke this week of the international situation and Scotland’s place within it. “No nation is an island”, as he rightly said.
We should debate and discuss international issues, given their impact on citizens and domestic policy. The same goes for the impact of Westminster politics and a ‘Broken Britain’ on Holyrood.
Elections are the opportunity to debate and discuss ideas, and Reform’s newbies have had quite the impact over the decades. New income and dependency rules for migrants that have hurt sectors like care and education.
Think of what the Scottish Parliament could do with its share of the £90 billion in lost tax revenues due to their Brexit. And think of the needless hit to poorer families through the two-child cap, only belatedly to be abolished, and increases in the cost of living.
The SNP’s opponents can and should challenge its record in Government. I think that the party has a robust case to make and should do so. Others will disagree.
However, all the SNP’s main challengers have a record to defend too. If Britain is broken due to policies pursued at Westminster, as those who broke Britain suggest, then isn’t it reasonable to consider what else should be done and whether we can continue to afford that particular layer of government?
Stephen Gethins is the MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry
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