Tensions between the UK and Scottish governments reached new heights this week as Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, unleashed a scathing verbal assault on the SNP
Her fierce tirade came in response to remarks by the SNP’s Westminster leader, Deidre Brock, who accused Mordaunt of using their weekly Commons clashes for “clickbait” attacks on Scotland.
According to The Independent, Mordaunt fired back that she was criticizing the SNP government’s record, not Scotland itself. “They’ve been an unmitigated disaster for Scotland,” she declared. Branding the party as “incapable, incorrigible and in trouble,” she charged them with an “appalling record” after 15 years in power at Holyrood.
The senior Conservative MP highlighted a litany of policy failures she pinned on the SNP, from declining educational standards to growing poverty levels and economic stagnation.
“After over a decade of SNP governance, Glasgow would be faring far better if not for the incompetence, ineptitude and inaction of the Scottish government,” Mordaunt stated.
She also referenced recent polls showing falling public support for independence and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership.
“The First Minister used to be popular across the UK when people knew little of her dismal record, but now the patience of Scots is turning to contempt for this failing SNP administration.”
Mordaunt asserted: “The moral high ground is not available to them owing to the corruption scandals, missing millions and failed ferries that have become the hallmarks of this shambolic SNP government.”
The SNP benches erupted in shouts and jeers during Mordaunt’s verbal onslaught. After she finished, Deidre Brock rose to dismiss her comments as “an audition for a new career as a stand-up comedian.”
The Edinburgh MP suggested Mordaunt’s videos attacking the SNP were part of an effort to raise her profile amid speculation of a possible fresh Conservative leadership bid. “All that effort – perhaps not so much stand up and fight, as stand-up comedian,” Brock quipped.
The fiery exchanges underscored growing strains between London and Edinburgh as the debate over Scottish independence intensifies.
With the Supreme Court recently ruling out an SNP-led referendum, the party is pushing to make the next UK general election a ‘de-facto’ vote on splitting from the three-century-old Union.
As campaign rhetoric heats up, Mordaunt’s blistering verbal assault signaled she will spearhead Conservative efforts to undermine the SNP’s push for another independence referendum. Her Commons tirade highlighted the Tories view Sturgeon’s domestic record as a weakness to exploit in the looming election battle
