As Labour risks a civil libertires backlash by hinting ID cards are in the pipeline, the party's former Home Secretery argues... All our digital fingerprints are everywhere, so giving a national identity card to every citizen is a no-brainer
Much ink has been spilt over the Labour Government's shelving of the Rwanda deportation plan. This hopelessly impractical and eye wateringly expensive project was to deter the small boat migrants from making the perilous crossing of the Channel, and after much toing and froing between the courts and Parliament, the first deportation flights were scheduled for July 24 last year.
However, the General Election intervened and at his first press conference as Prime Minister Keir Starmer witheringly confirmed that the 'gimmick' scheme was 'dead and buried'. Since then – with some 1,200 migrants making it to English shores in one day alone last week – the numbers of people entering the country illegally have ticked up and up. With each day's figures, the supporters of the Tory's Rwanda plan cry: 'I told you so.'
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18 minutes ago
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Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Only the SNP can stop Reform, the First Minister had insisted, just days before another electoral humbling for his party. John Swinney and friends had crafted a narrative that Labour were damaging Scotland's economy, overseeing austerity and, as a result, had no chance of winning. What he perhaps forgot was those same charges could be applied to the SNP, and for 17 years, not less than one. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad We as pundits, journalists, and indeed many politicians got sucked into this narrative. Sir Keir Starmer's popularity had plummeted. The winter fuel allowance changes, two-child benefit and difficult economic forecast meant Labour could no longer be trusted, and voters were excited to go to the polls and make their feelings clear. This, of course, was nonsense. Voters perhaps put more weight on years of uncertainty than they did the struggles of a new government, which in hindsight seems obvious. It was less than two years since Scotland came second last among the UK nations for science and maths and was below England on all measures. People are still waiting on the NHS app, costing them £17 million, which now will not launch until 2026. That's to say nothing of wait times or the numerous scandals that have engulfed the SNP. John Swinney's stances on the EU, Donald Trump and migration, among others, have won plaudits (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images Then there was the candidate himself, or your new MSP Davy Russell as he's known, who endured car crash TV appearances when he actually showed up. Scottish Labour insisted he was a strong candidate known in the local area and didn't need to do too much media. It was all a bit Boris Johnson hiding in the fridge, but it worked. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It was also down to the Prime Minister, who declined to campaign in Hamilton during a visit to Scotland. All of this combined gave us the impression that the party was giving up, not wanting to taint Starmer with a defeat. In truth, it may have been that his attendance would have been a detriment, rather than an asset to the campaign. All of which is to say, I can see how we all got it so wrong, but that doesn't make it right. We had been warned, of course we were. It was only in March that an Ipsos survey found Scots are more negative than positive about the Scottish Government's performance. But Labour's teething issues, the SNP narrative and a candidate not conforming to what was expected rattled us, allowed us to focus on what was in front of us, rather than the years of failure if we'd dared to turn around. For Labour, this is a stunning victory, validation of their strategy and perhaps hope that Holyrood could indeed be in their grasp. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I recall one MP saying to me many months ago that voters were leaving Labour, but not to anyone else, they were undecided. The party gambled when reminded of the SNP record, they would come back. That roll of the dice has paid off.
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26 minutes ago
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31 minutes ago
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Stoke pottery firm's plea to help industry 'on its knees'
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