SINCE the General Election, the Scottish Tories have largely faded into insignificance at Holyrood, with the focus having turned each week to debates between the SNP and Labour, and Reform UK breathing down their necks.
But on Wednesday all eyes turned right back to them as the Scottish Parliament united in calling them out on a whole new low. At one stage, they even seemed to suggest it was funny.
Buried in the middle of a motion entitled Delivering a Common Sense Budget designed to counter several aspects of the Government’s tax and spending agenda, the Tories proposed abolishing plans to hand free bus travel to asylum seekers.
They said the funding for this could have been used instead to provide pensioners in Scotland with a full Winter Fuel Payment, unashamedly pitting one vulnerable group against another.
You could smell their fear of Reform a mile off. The Scottish Tories have always been more small-c Conservative than their UK counterparts, but they appear to have thrown all caution and principles to the wind in their attempts to see off Farage and co, who are coming for Holyrood.
This is hardly a tactic that is going to win them support in 2026 and we can only hope this isn't a sign of what's to come in their campaign.
They might have tried to hide this unconscionable idea in amongst complaining about taxes and the economy, and notably Craig Hoy hardly mentioned it in his opening remarks when he tabled the motion.
But the rest of the parliament was not prepared to let them off the hook. One by one the SNP, Labour, the Greens and LibDems stepped up to tear into the “Farage-esque” attitude the Scottish Tories seem to have adopted.
When the baton passed to Labour’s Michael Marra, that’s when scenes got a bit ugly. As he ripped into Tory attempts to “outflank Reform”, the camera panned to the Tory benches where Murdo Fraser could be seen laughing, while Rachael Hamilton and Sue Webber were busy pointing fingers across the room.
If people watching were finding that hard to stomach, think of Tory MSPs Miles Briggs, Roz McCall and Jeremy Balfour, who last year showed support for Paul Sweeney’s calls for free bus travel to be given to asylum seekers. What must they be thinking about the wild right-turn their party has taken?
Elsewhere in the Parliament, Green MSP Ross Greer called them “nasty and desperate”, accusing them of seeking to sow division amongst ordinary people. Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton pointed out asylum seekers live on as little as £1.36 a day according to charities, as he highlighted how they cannot work or contribute to society while their claim is being processed.
It was a debate where you found yourself nodding and shaking your head at the same time, the latter at the total disregard the Tories showed for one of the most vulnerable groups in society, and the former at the reassuring way in which the Scottish Parliament – which hosts its fair share of petty debates – was prepared to unite and call out the most heinous of proposals that does not fit with Scotland’s welcoming philosophy.
We should be proud as a nation of the way in which we wrap our arms around those who need it most and here’s hoping our politicians continue to call out anyone who attempts to change that.
