From SNP Westminster Press Office:
The Scottish Tory MPs have been called out for falling in line behind Boris Johnson and voting down calls for an immediate start to a full Covid-19 public inquiry into the UK government’s handling of lucrative emergency Covid contracts and potential misuse of taxpayers’ money.
It comes following the first half of the SNP’s Opposition Day debate on the issue of Covid contracts and immediate commencement of a full public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. Despite cross-party MPs backing the motion, Douglas Ross and Scottish Tory MPs rejected the calls to provide clarity over the use of public money.
Over the past year, countless reports have emerged of multi-million-pound contracts being awarded to close contacts, friends and party donors of the Tory party with little accountability. As well as the misuse of public funds after Michael Gove reportedly instructed officials to use emergency Covid contracts and taxpayers’ money to carry out political research into “attitudes to the UK Union.”
Commenting, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford MP said:
“In the middle of a global deadly pandemic our efforts must be focused on saving lives. However, throughout this crisis we have heard time and time again of how multi-million-pound emergency Covid contracts have been dished out to Tory contacts, friends and party donors.
“Huge sums of taxpayers’ money has found its way to the coffers of those linked closely to the Tory party without proper scrutiny and due process.
“Each time this has been brought to light, the UK government has utterly failed to properly give the full details.
“We need accountability and we need scrutiny of how the UK government handles emergency Covid contracts and millions of pounds of public money – including the siphoning off of money for party political research into the Union.
“Rather than working with cross-party MPs to ensure due process is followed and answers are given by immediately commencing the Covid-19 public inquiry, Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tory MPs shamefully lined up behind Boris Johnson and rejected those calls.
“The SNP has been consistently clear that there must be a full public inquiry into the use and process of Covid contracts. The Tories cannot simply wish this scandal away.
“What is clear beyond any doubt is that the Westminster system is broken beyond repair, and only by becoming an independent country will Scotland be in a position to secure a real and fair recovery from this pandemic.”
ENDS
Discover more from Talking-up Scotland
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Talking-up Scotland 
As Victor Meldrew would say
“I do not believe this”
LikeLike
If Tories are involved then : ”I certainly believe this ! ”
LikeLiked by 1 person
“The old school tie.
My wife’s family.
They are my friends.
Boris said.
or………..
I’m a crooked, corrupt B’stard”.
As for the Scottish Toadies.
They are just sheep in puddock-skin cloths.
Led by a dumpling with an O level in milking coo’s.
LikeLiked by 3 people
So, based on the output of every UK terrestrial TV channel this evening it’s clear, beyond doubt: ‘England’ is a ‘nation’ AND ‘England’ is a ‘country’. The success of the England football team is uniting this ‘nation’ (of England?) and it is uniting this ‘country’ (of England?).
How might a ‘one nation’ Tory explain this? By considering NI, Wales and Scotland as part of the nation and country of England? And so in turn, equating England with the UK? I’m unsure what mental gymnastics they would opt for: it’s evidently quite a difficult matter. As I posted btl on TuS a couple of days ago, even the monarch seems unsure.
The BBC News website recently had the headline: ‘Royals celebrate NHS anniversary with George Cross and tea party’. Helpfully, the BBC reproduced the monarch’s hand written note which announced the GC award. But is it not a curious note?
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57714088
From the second line of the note we read this: “It is with great pleasure, on behalf of A GRATEFUL NATION, that I award the George Cross to the National Health Services of the United Kingdom.” (My emphasis) Note the singular ‘nation’ and the plural “Services’.
However, in the fifth line of the same note there is this: “The award recognises all NHS staff , past and present, across all disciplines and all FOUR nations’.
So within these four lines of one short note the writer seemingly can’t decide whether to be the constitutional head of ONE nation or FOUR nations!
I’ve previously on TuS commented on significant changes to how The Commonwealth – of which the UK monarch is head – describes the UK state. ‘Scotland’ was described as a ‘country’ on its website around a year ago but no longer!
See: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2021/06/08/and-so-it-begins/
LikeLiked by 4 people
When the English government tell Scotland ‘you are too poor’ and useless, it can then only be explained as a consequence of and in terms of the ‘country’ of the UK being too poor and useless. The English government want their cake and eat it, except it’s a bit half baked and flat, and rather tasteless.
Mental gymnastics indeed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, toadying is in the Tory DNA, innit. And no matter how hard we try as a species, we don’t appear to be able to advance beyond our evolutionary psychology.
SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883133/
LikeLike
Actually, our evolutionary psychology isn’t entirely a bad thing, as it evolved for practical purposes, e.g. to protect us from danger.
The hierarchically mechanistic mind: an evolutionary systems theory of the human brain, cognition, and behavior
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6861365/
LikeLike
Tolies taking a leaf out of Nicola’s indy excuse playbook. “after the pandemic”. If we call out toly hypocracy, we have to do the same for the snp. Otherwise we’re being hypocritical.
LikeLike
Judging by your problems with spelling and clear antipathy toward the the FM you are perhaps really Jackie Baillie ? 🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person