Angus Robertson: Labour has no backbone, the SNP is the real opposition at Westminster

The General Election result last month was incredible. SNP MPs were elected in almost every single Scottish constituency with an overwhelming mandate, having stood on a progressive platform endorsed by half of the electorate.

The job we were sent to Westminster to do is clear - the voters placed their trust in us to stand up for the people of Scotland and stand up to the Tories. The SNP will vocally oppose the UK Government's damaging agenda of continuing with austerity and edging ever closer to an EU exit.

The Tories' plans, announced in last month's Queen's Speech, would restrict the right to vote of Scottish MPs, the right to strike of trade unionists, the right to privacy of people online, and - most worryingly of all - the fundamental human rights which protect us all. The people of Scotland rejected the Tories regressive plans at the polls and SNP MPs will make their voice heard in Westminster.

The Labour Party, meanwhile, seem to have forgotten what opposition is. Riven by an identity crisis as they attempt to grasp their failure to beat the Tories in England, and the SNP in Scotland, they find themselves questioning what their party stands for.

Despite having failed to win with a manifesto promising Tory-lite austerity, they now seem drawn to the Blairite siren calls of those who say a further shift to the right is the answer. But echoing the Tories is what led to Labour's defeat, and such a prospectus will get them nowhere in Scotland.

Utter failure to oppose the Tories is becoming something of a habit for Labour. This week they failed yet again to vote for the powers Scotland needs. The UK Government's Scotland Bill doesn't even deliver the limited Smith Commission proposals, and yet Labour have completely failed to hold the Tories to account.

We are now in the undemocratic position where Scotland's sole Conservative MP - Scottish Secretary David Mundell - is denying the clear will of the people for significantly greater powers beyond Smith, and Labour are largely just nodding along with whatever he says.

Labour also voted with the Tories this week against the SNP's proposals to give EU nationals the vote in the coming EU referendum. Under the Tories' plans, citizens of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus in the UK will be able to vote, but French, Spanish and Polish people living here will not. Unelected members of the House of Lords, who cannot normally vote in General Elections, will be specially enfranchised for this vote, while French-born MSP Christian Allard will be denied a say.

EU citizens who have made Scotland their home have a stake in our country's future, and we believe they should be able to vote on it. Labour's decision to side with the Tories and refuse them the franchise is as disappointing as it is unsurprising.

The most frustrating thing is that the Tories' majority at Westminster is highly fragile. On a range of issues, there are opportunities to defeat the Government. Already, the Tories have been blown off course on several occasions in the face of a united opposition, delaying their plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and u-turning on their refusal to guarantee the EU referendum will not be held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections next year.

But the Tories will not be defeated if the official opposition sits on their hands. It seems that when they aren't trooping through the Conservative lobbies, Labour MPs are abstaining on important votes.

A Labour abstention this week resulted in a missed opportunity to defeat the Government on purdah restrictions during the EU Referendum, which would have ensured the Government plays fair and square ahead of the vote. And despite their hysterical prophecies of doom about Full Fiscal Autonomy, Labour twice abstained on that this week as well.

If they had voted for the full package of powers that was endorsed so resoundingly by the people of Scotland at the General Election, the Government would have been defeated by one vote.

Labour not only lacks a leader - it lacks a backbone.

With each passing week at Westminster, it is becoming increasingly clear that the SNP are the real opposition to the Tories. The people of Scotland placed their trust in the SNP last month because they knew we would be a strong voice for Scotland, and opinion polls for next year's Scottish Parliament elections show they continue to do so.

But they also voted for us to stand up to the Tories, and people across the UK desperately need an opposition that will oppose the Government's damaging agenda and make the case for progressive change. That is precisely what the SNP will do - even if Labour won't.