Cruel Tory mask slips 24 hours after vote on kid’s rights.
Callous Tory hypocrites slammed for playing political games with children’s lives after they voted against the extension of emergency Covid powers to protect families during the pandemic.
The Scottish Parliament vote centred on important coronavirus regulations, which must legally be reconsidered every two months and would have expired on March 31.
These regulations don’t affect the laws around lockdown but are critical in allowing the Scottish Government and public authorities to take important measures to protect people from the impact of Covid.
In an extremely reckless move, the Tories voted against important safeguards including:
Valuable protections for families in rented properties by providing certainty for tenants, including those who have become unemployed during the pandemic.
Justice provisions to allow court business to be conducted by electronic means so our justice system can continue to function as safely and efficiently as possible.
The importance of these measures was reflected in support for the legal extensions by various groups including Shelter Scotland, UCU Scotland, NUS Scotland, Citizen’s Advice Scotland, the Law Society for Scotland, the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service and the Lord President.
Commenting on the vote, SNP MSP Stuart McMillan said (pictured):
“The Tories’ callous decision to vote against the extension of these essential safeguards is shameful.
“Less than 24 hours after the parliament celebrated enshrining the UN rights of children in Scots Law, the Tory mask slipped when they voted to remove protections put in place specifically to make sure families with children are not made homeless.
“This is the behaviour of cruel hypocrites.
“Have the Tories learned nothing from this pandemic? Everyone accepts emergency Covid laws will not be in place for a minute longer than is absolutely necessary.
“Unfortunately, for now, they are still essential.
“Yet the Tories voted to put countless Scots families – many of them already hit hard financially by Covid – at risk of losing the roof over their heads.
“They are playing shameful political games with the lives of families who could face homelessness if these temporary measures were not extended by the Scottish Government.
“The Tories – led by the likes of Boris Johnson – can’t be trusted to protect Scots families, our NHS or create a wealthier, fairer, greener country as we rebuild from this pandemic.
“It’s why the people of Scotland must vote to re-elect Nicola Sturgeon to continue to lead Scotland as we move from pandemic to recovery and put health and wellbeing first.”
