SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan has said Scotland is “not hanging around” for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to tackle the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. While the Labour leader has put forward a decade-long plan for the nation, Mr Doogan insisted that Scotland could have a “better, brighter, burgeoning future” by quitting the UK.
Attack on Prime Minister's record
Mr Doogan used his speech to the SNP conference in Aberdeen to attack the Prime Minister, whom he said was the “Labour Party’s latest messiah”. His comments came ahead of a visit to Scotland by Mr Burnham on Friday, but the SNP MP blasted him for describing Manchester as being the “North” of the UK.
“It’s a safe bet that if a prime minister doesn’t have a clue about geography, he’s never going to have a clue about Scotland,” Mr Doogan said.
Independence as the answer
His comments came as he argued that independence is central to tackling the “cost-of-living tsunami” facing Britain. Mr Doogan, making his first conference speech since taking over as SNP group leader in the Commons, declared that “Brexit Britain is bust”, adding that the party was “fighting to escape from a Westminster economy that no longer works for anyone, much less Scotland”.
The MP said there was a “belated sense of awareness” from politicians in London of “just how broken the old idea of the United Kingdom is”.
Mr Doogan said: “Andy Burnham says Westminster is broken. Agreed.
“Andy Burnham says we’ve lived through a decade of damaging decline. Agreed.
“Andy Burnham says it is going to take a decade to fix it. No chance, we’re not hanging around for another decade of broken, Brexit Britain.”
Call for immediate action
He insisted that Scotland did “not want to be part of a patched up UK”. Instead, he said: “We want to be part of a generation that builds a nation that is respected by its larger neighbour, not ruled by it.
“Part of a generation that returns home to the European Union.”
Mr Doogan insisted: “The only path for Scotland to prosperity is for independence within the European Union.”
His comments came as he contrasted measures implemented in Ireland to tackle the cost-of-living crisis with the UK – challenging UK ministers to do more. Noting that the Irish government had cut fuel duty on petrol and diesel, had also cut taxes on gas and home heating oil and provided support to the hospitality sector, Mr Doogan demanded action from the Prime Minister.
He said: “On his flying visit to Scotland tomorrow, Andy Burnham could announce two immediate actions.
“He should remove VAT from petrol and diesel for the duration of this crisis. And he should cut energy bills by the £300 that the Labour Party promised.”
