So now we all know what we’re dealing with. This SNP malice against the English and our democracy is no joke.
After repeatedly promising that her party would not abuse its newfound power to interfere in matters relating only to England, Nicola Sturgeon has shown her true colours.
She means war. She is up for a bit of constitutional wrecking. The SNP statement saying they will oppose the Hunting Act amendments just to remind ‘an arrogant UK government of just how slender their majority is’ is nothing less than chilling.
Let’s be clear. This is not about hunting. The SNP can’t say it is and don’t attempt to say it is, because Cameron’s proposed amendments to the Hunting Act bring the law in line with Scotland.
This very sensible and restrained proposed change would have simply made it legal to use a pack of hounds, rather than two, to flush a fox for pest control purposes.
The fact that the vote on hunting tomorrow is now postponed is upsetting for the hunting community, of course, who have waited a long time for justice. And yes, it means the ludicrous hypocrisy will continue whereby sentimental but misguided animal-loving townies, whipped up by slebs like Ricky Gervais and Brian May, will continue to rubber stamp all sorts of horrible animal suffering for the purposes of their eating meat while refusing to countenance any kind of pest control needed to produce said meat – because it’s horrid and nasty that things have to die, isn’t it, so let’s at least not have to see it.
But what is at stake is even more important than that, because this is upsetting for anyone who believes in British democracy. God help us all if the SNP belligerence continues, because we might as well forget any plans we have for governing ourselves any more.
The Scots Nats mean to rule us with resentment. Sturgeon is on the march. Did we ever really believe she wouldn’t be? And did we ever really believe this SNP surge would not come down to a constitutional crisis in which MPs south of the border had to fight for English votes for English laws?
That now is the only option, not just for the totemic issue of hunting, but for any issue put before Parliament by the law-makers we have elected. If the SNP will wreck Cameron’s amendments to the Hunting Act – when the changes proposed bring the law into line with Scotland for goodness sake – then they will wreck anything.
As recently as February Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘The SNP have a longstanding position of not voting on matters that purely affect England – such as foxhunting south of the border, for example – and we stand by that.’ If today’s U-turn is Sturgeon standing by her word, then we are in for a rough ride.
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