People in Scotland have “been monumentally let down” by the SNP, Tory MP Penny Mordaunt has said, as she claimed the tide has turned against the party.
The leader of the House of Commons claimed people north of the border had been portrayed as “eternally beaten and self-pitying” by the party as part of a narrative blaming England for any problems.
She said the narrative was driven by “hyperbole, hysteria and hatred”, and described the SNP as “fuelled by bile”.
Ms Mordaunt, who ran against Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss in last year’s Conservative leadership contest, made the comments after visiting Scotland, speaking at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Sunday.
The narrative is updated but ancient— Penny Mordaunt
Writing in the Daily Express on Thursday, she said the new start promised by the SNP in 2007 turned out to be “as old as the hills”, with people told they are victims.
She said: “They promised a fresh way of thinking – a new party with a shiny brand, delivering results efficiently. A party of the people, for the people. Good people placed their trust in it.
“They have been monumentally let down.”
She said people were urged to forget their family across the rest of the UK and told they are “the nation of the eternally beaten and self-pitying”.
Ms Mordaunt wrote: “Finally, you bake this into a shiny new brand updated for the modern age and plug it into social media. Then feed it with hyperbole, hysteria and hatred. And then you go looking for someone to blame.
“The narrative is updated but ancient. You have been held down and held back by the auld enemy, England and the English. They’ve stolen everything, the resources, the money, even your very future.”
However, she claimed that the “great lie of the SNP has been exposed” and the tide is turning against the party.
She said her visit to Scotland left her feeling there is hope for the future and “personal and collective responsibility”.
She said: “There is hope and ambition from people and communities who want to do so much for themselves and others.”
House of Commons Business spokesperson SNP MP Deidre Brock said: “Penny Mordaunt has some brass neck complaining about governments letting people down.
“The Tories have spent 13 years plunging hundreds of thousands of people into poverty with their austerity agenda, have disadvantaged citizens and hamstrung the economy through their catastrophic Brexit and subsequent departure from the EU single market, and are now overseeing the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
“Scottish voters can see through the comments made by the Leader of the House of Commons and her attempt to dismiss the successes of the SNP.
“From the Scottish Child Payment to free tuition fees to the baby box to free prescriptions, the SNP-led Scottish Government will continue to deliver for the people of Scotland as we work towards our independence.”
