Martin Docherty-Hughes, MP for West Dunbartonshire, has said that it’s no surprise to see support for Scottish independence on the rise following the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
The local SNP MP hit out at the new leader of the British Conservatives Boris Johnson who will take over at Number 10 from outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson received the support of 92,153 Tories in a ballot of the Conservative party membership – representing just 0.14% of the voting public across the UK.
According to a survey published by polling company YouGov, just 15 per cent of Scots view Boris Johnson’s appointment as PM in a positive light, with 60 per cent of voters in Scotland “disappointed” or “dismayed” by the prospect.
MP for West Dunbartonshire Martin Docherty-Hughes questioned the new PM’s mandate to pursue a damaging no deal exit from the EU, saying that “Scots deserve the choice of a better future than Brexit Britain under Boris Johnson.”
Martin Docherty-Hughes MP said:
“I think it’s quite remarkable that Boris Johnson has just been handed the keys to Number 10. This is someone whose career has been littered with incompetence, scandal and self-interest – yet he’s supposed to be the best talent the Tories have to offer.
“So we now have an unelected Tory Prime Minister committed to a ‘do or die’ hard Brexit that Scotland didn’t vote for; a prospect which even the Tory Chancellor admits would be devastating to jobs, living standards and public services.
“This is the same Boris Johnson who said that a pound spent in London is better than a pound spent in Strathclyde, which perhaps tells us all we need to know about his attitude towards Scotland.
“Given the ongoing shambles at Westminster it’s no wonder that support for independence continues to rise, with a majority of Scots now supporting a fresh referendum on Scotland’s future.
“It’s uncertain what the coming weeks will bring, but what’s clearer than ever is that we must have the choice of a better future than Brexit Britain under Boris Johnson.”