IS Boris Johnson beginning to take the constitutional battle over Scotland seriously?
The question arises after our tousle-haired premier seemed up for the Union fight launching a pre-emptive strike on the Nationalist horde.
Even before their champion Ian Blackford had asked the first of his two PMQs’ questions, Bozza turned a question on English schools into an attack on the Scottish Government’s record on education.
Turning to the Nationalist bagpuss, the blonde Beatle asked his opponent to Conservative cheers: “Perhaps the honourable gentleman, who is about to rise to his feet like a rocketing pheasant, will explain why his party is still so obsessed with breaking up our Union rather than delivering for the children and pupils of Scotland?”
READ MORE: Ian Blackford calls on Boris Johnson to halt Brexit Bill after all three devolved legislatures reject it
From bagpuss to rocketing pheasant in one sentence; quite a feat.
As if to defy the Old Etonian bag of air, the Highland MP rose deliberately slowly and calmly sought to put the knife in.
The song was, of course, familiar; devolution under attack, Westminster power-grab, no respect for the people of Scotland.
However, Mr B’s point was the Lords the night before had defeated the Government on the Brexit Bill over the so-called Sewel Convention. But, as per the constitutional court case, this says only the UK Parliament "will not normally" legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislatures; not normally does not mean never.
The SNP chief attempted to take the high moral ground and implored the PM, saying: “All three parliaments and even the House of Lords have called on you to end your Government’s attack on devolution. Will he stop the attack on our parliaments?”
READ MORE: Jess Phillips backs Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray in deputy leader bid
But earlier Mr Blackford had, unwisely, handed his straw-topped opponent a large stick by suggesting the people of Scotland had said no; he meant no to Brexit as in the 2016 referendum. But, of course, Bozza used it for his own purposes.
To Conservative cheers, the top Tory answered: “I agreed for a second with him when he said Scotland said no and it meant it and he was right. The people of Scotland said no to independence in 2014 and they meant it!”
Later, when the Western Isles champion Angus MacNeil suggested a “cave-in” trade deal with the US would never compensate for leaving the EU, the PM was again prepared for the Nat-attack, telling him: “His proposals for a break-up of the UK would necessitate a border at Berwick and he is proposing the pensioners of Scotland should have their assets denominated in a new currency; whose name they cannot even specify.”
As the Tory troops cheered and hollered their approval Bagpuss sank deeper into his green bench, biting his lip. This fight will run and run.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel