That the Tories are getting themselves in to such contortions is a real sign of the state of panic they are in. This though is a result of the “First Past The Post” system we use to elect the House of Commons, a system the Tories defend as fanatically as they do the Union.
They will, as seems likely hold 7% of seats on 3% of the vote. The last throw of the illegitimacy dice is that the SNP will enjoy influence in parliament far out of proportion to their share of the national vote.
#Campaign subvert election full#
There are plenty of opponents of Trident in the Lib Dems, with whom the Tories have just served a full term of government. Nor is opposition to Trident, in itself “illegitimate”. In the referendum campaign last year the Tories were desperate to preserve the constitutional status quo, and they succeeded: Scotland is still in the Union.ĭefence policy, along with numerous other areas of policy (devolution being in fact being fairly limited) notably including Social Security) is a “reserved” matter, a national issue which only Westminster has power over.Īs such even by the Tories’ own logic SNP Members elected to parliament have every right to press their position on it. The hypocrisy of this is stunning, even by the Tories’ own often twisted constitutional logic. The campaign to demonise and brand as undemocratic any radical agenda, or in fact any policies associated with the SNP, is underway. It is the connotations which matter here, and the connotations are with crime, the illegal and illegitimate. The headlines today say it all: “We will hold UK defence to ransom, SNP warns” screams the front page of The Times. They want to nip in the bud any chance of real change. No, this hysteria is aimed at the post election world. Nuclear weapons have not played any significant part in general elections since the 1980s. Whilst their scare stories are in part meant to weaken both the SNP and Labour, in reality they are unlikely to have much effect.
The election hasn’t even happened but the Tories have already started a campaign of subversion against the likely next government. The establishment’s anti-SNP hysteria is aimed at the post election world – they want to nip in the bud any chance of real change
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