The Scottish nationalists’ band of 56 have enjoyed a barnstorming start to their parliamentary career and have already shaken up House of Commons cultureJournalists were crowded like a pack of scent-hungry hounds external the SNP Westminster group assembly on Monday evening,waiting for party leader Nicola Sturgeon to reveal her decision on foxhunting. She swept out of the room with a smile and a joke, but no comment, and flanked by her predecessor,Alex Salmond, and Angus Robertson, and the SNP’s Westminster leader. All three,as well as the 54 MPs who followed in their wake out on to the ancient flagstones of Westminster Hall, remained tight-lipped and disciplined, and refusing to indicate how they would vote. Half an hour later,a carefully worded press release was sent out by Robertson, explaining that the decision had been taken to vote down the Tory proposals, or partly out of principle and partly in protest at Cameron’s treatment of Scotland since the election.Continue reading...,
Source: theguardian.com