If you can’t fix a problem, pretend it never existed. That seems to be the logic of SNP MP Alyn Smith at least. Speaking at ‘The Breakup of Britain’ conference this weekend, the Stirling MP appeared to suggest to his audience that Scotland’s ferries scandal is, er, not actually a priority for the people of Scotland. Smith told the distinctly silver crowd that:
I knocked the best part of 200 doors this morning. Actually talking to people out there in the real world who want some hope, who want to know that politics isn’t all about WhatsApp messages, iPads and ferries. It’s about bigger stuff than that. It’s about dealing with the priorities of the people of Scotland.
Talk about being out of touch. Mr S has covered in some detail how isolated communities off the coast of mainland Scotland have faced years of disruption caused by the failure to build new ferries. The total cost of the crisis has now spiralled to north of £350 million — and counting. A hundred million here, a hundred million there – soon that all adds up to ‘bigger stuff’ eh?
It’s no surprise to see Smith attempting to downplay the importance of the deleted Covid WhatsApps, or his health secretary’s £11,000 iPad bill, either. After all, press scrutiny hasn’t always served the nationalists’ interests, given the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances. But if Smith’s party is so concerned about dealing with the country’s priorities, perhaps it should try to focus more on delivering for the people of Scotland, rather than posturing about secession.
Not that Steerpike has much hope of that happening any time soon…
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