As we stumble into another week of economic chaos at Westminster the unionist mantra of ‘strong and stable’ has been reduced to ashes. Burnt to a crisp by a bonfire of vanity that started with Boris Johnson and continued with a leadership race for the Conservative and Unionist party that consisted of one outrageous promise after the other. The outcome was a Prime Minister that nobody, including her own party, wanted and a financial statement that crashed the pound, inflated mortgage rates and put the frighteners on the financial markets. Those most affected are, as always, those who have already cut their budgets to the bone. Having made such a catastrophic start to her leadership, the Prime Minister sacked her Chancellor and appointed a new one who notably had opposed all her financial plans in the first place. Which begs the question, who is running the U.K. now? When a country is in turmoil and change is required to repair all the damage caused by Brexit, Covid, energy prices and Boris Johnson, strong and stable is exactly what we need and what we have been promised but once again Westminster has failed to deliver.
Hot on the heels of the financial statement and the chancellor being despatched, the new Chancellor has written off and backtracked on everything that was in it bar the national insurance changes and the banker’s bonus being uncapped. The energy support package that the Prime Minister promised was for two years will now be scrapped in April. In an attempt to, once again, offset the damage being wreaked on Scotland by Westminster, the SNP brought forward an amendment on Monday evening to try and tie the government to a two-year package, but we lost the vote while the Labour Party unbelievably abstained.
We have had four Chancellors is four months. Strong and stable has transpired to be weak and wobbly. It’s time to take to the lifeboats Scotland, Britannia is sinking.
(For info: The column was written before the Prime Minister resigned)
Ronnie Cowan MP 