AN audience member on Question Time told Scottish Labour’s deputy leader that she would never vote for her party again as they accused opposition parties of “not listening” to the people of Scotland.
The first question of the evening on Thursday night’s Question Time asked if opposition parties were “too confident about the possible demise of the SNP”.
On the show, which took place in Fort William, one audience member told Jackie Baillie and Tory peer Malcolm Offord: “I’ve been following Scottish politics since 2014 when I took an interest in the referendum. I have yet to see the Tories or the Labour Party actually speak properly to the people of Scotland.
“All I see is what they’re being told from London. If you want to get the people of Scotland to vote for you – speak to us, talk to us, listen to what we’re saying.
“If you want to get the people of Scotland to vote for you - speak to us, talk to us, listen to us” This #bbcqt audience member says Scottish Labour and Conservatives take their policy cues from Londonhttps://t.co/WlWdSCqipT pic.twitter.com/coBn7VpHio
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) May 18, 2023
“At the moment you’re not listening and as a result I will personally never vote Labour ever again and I voted for you until the referendum.”
Prior to this, Baillie said she “felt sorry” for the supporters of the SNP because they must feel “betrayed”.
She said the SNP was “in a mess” and even suggested that Humza Yousaf was already facing challenges to his leadership.
“When you are round the corridors of Holyrood you can’t help but interact with colleagues in government who tell you quite openly that it is simply a matter of time before Humza Yousaf is going to be challenged”, she said.
Baillie added: “Whilst they’re fighting like ferrets in a sack, their eyes are off the ball of what needs to happen with the cost of living crisis, how we get our NHS back and how we fix our economy."
On whether opposition parties are being “arrogant”, she said: “We will work for every single vote. Of course the polls are indicating SNP support is dropping. We don’t take anything for granted.”
She also claimed that both Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer are more popular than the First Minister.
