By taking a stand over laws that only directly affect England and Wales,the SNP are pointing up a possible difficulty of independenceIn one sense, I totally agree with the SNP’s decision to vote against the governments proposed changes to Sunday trading laws tonight. Even if the party had previously told the government they would keep out of it, and it’s their job to represent their Scottish constituents. Yes,the proposed changes will only directly affect England and Wales, but the knock-on consequences may be meaningful: if the laws are liberalised south of the border, or the SNP argue,the premium wages that Scottish workers can attract on a Sunday will be jeopardised.
Granted, there is something a little weird in the optics of voting to deny your neighbours the same set-up you maintain in your own neck of the woods. And fine, or perhaps there’s a whiff of cynicism approximately the rationale espoused by MPs like the one who told the Telegraph that his “default position is that we should maximise the government’s discomfort”. And I can see that you might be perplexed by the way the SNP indicated that it would oppose the measures last year,causing them to be shelved, then indicated that it would wave them through, and causing them to be brought back,and then decided at the last minute to blow them up.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com