today it was announced that our 56 newly elected radical, nationalist mps would be abstaining from voting on any tory legislation which seeks to repeal the fox hunting ban in england and wales.
the party released this statement justifying their decision: 'the snp has a long-standing position of not voting on matters that only affect England. the hunting act is one such matter that purely affects England and Wales, and so snp mps would not vote on this issue. however, snp mps will always be a voice for the protection of our environment and wildlife...’
it has indeed been long term snp policy to 'not-vote' on issues that only affect england. had this still been the case it would be possible to defend the snp position on the grounds of principle if not animal welfare. however, in the run up to the general election with the snp eyeing up some kind of arrangement with the labour party, nicola sturgeon said: ’snp mps elected in may are prepared to vote for a bill which would restore the national health service in england to the accountable public service it was always meant to be’ and later commented this would be ‘good for england’.
this was a clear change in position for the scottish national party who had previously refrained from voting on english and welsh issues as it gives credence to the idea of unionism and collective decision making. this change in tac is important as it gives the snp the flexibility to choose, on which english only matters it votes on. as the tweet below from pete wishart confirms, the snp today were unrestricted by a commitment to 'not-vote' on english only issues when they made the choice to abstain from voting on the repeal of the hunting act as they had already abandoned this principle during the election campaign.
this was a clear change in position for the scottish national party who had previously refrained from voting on english and welsh issues as it gives credence to the idea of unionism and collective decision making. this change in tac is important as it gives the snp the flexibility to choose, on which english only matters it votes on. as the tweet below from pete wishart confirms, the snp today were unrestricted by a commitment to 'not-vote' on english only issues when they made the choice to abstain from voting on the repeal of the hunting act as they had already abandoned this principle during the election campaign.
@GC_1508 Hi Gav. No decision on fox hunting yet so no abstention. Haven't had a chance to discuss it. Eng/Wales only but we'll look at it.
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) May 16, 2015
after learning of the snp position i was left wondering why on earth should a national border determine whether an animal can be brutally torn to sherds or not. issues such as animal welfare and climate change do not respect invented national borders and to treat them as essentially national issues conveys a crucial misunderstanding.
this afternoon i tweeted my new mp, chris law to ask how he would vote on the repealing of the hunting act, 2004 . this was the response:
to his credit mr law responded by saying categorically- 'i will not be abstaining'. for an elected representative of the scottish national party to directly contradict the party line so brazenly is truly incredible. hats of to chris law mp. dundee has a free thinking radical as its member of parliament. wait.. hold on a minute, a full hour after mr law tweeted his intention to defy the party his tweet was dutifully recanted and mr law was reduced to pathetically parroting the party line which he had previously opposed.
@dlow0905 This helps explain our position
http://t.co/TV8kRnxqKv
— Chris Law MP (@ChrisLawSNP) May 16, 2015
alas, the party succeeded in once again suppressing internal dissent. however when you consider that the snp now have 56 mps- many of whom were inspired by the genuinely radical and diverse yes campaign, you get the feeling that the snp's usual insistence on strict uniformity may come under increasing pressure in the next 5 years.
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