Skip to main content
A bad time for Johnson is letting the SNP off the hook
VINCE MILLS writes that the SNP's piecemeal progressivism around income tax is dwarfed by its cuts to local services — but with a universally reviled Tory Party in charge in Westminster, little criticism sticks

LAST WEEK saw one of the biggest blows to the credibility of Boris Johnson’s awful Tory government — and more specifically to Johnson’s personal standing.

Note: this was not because of the reactionary Nationality and Borders Bill, which will make the perilous Channel crossings even more deadly, nor the authoritarian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill for England and Wales, a godsend for any police chief who wants inconvenient demonstrators off the streets.

Nor was it even the Tories’ Internal Market Act which concentrates all powers over state aid and competition policy in the hands of the Westminster Parliament, taking away the powers delegated to the Scottish Parliament — or for that matter, the Subsidy Control Bill also designed to protect “the free market” from the dangers of public authorities using subsidies in progressive ways.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
MIXED HISTORY: The Kelvingrove Art Gallery has significant connections to profits made from the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism
Features / 29 April 2025
29 April 2025

That Scotland was an active participant and beneficiary of colonialism and slavery is not a question of blame games and guilt peddling, but a crucial fact assessing the class nature of the questions of devolution and independence, writes VINCE MILLS

Voices of Scotland / 25 March 2025
25 March 2025
While VINCE MILLS laments the resignation of Neil Findlay from Scottish Labour, he explains why he won’t be joining him outside the party in the ongoing struggle for a socialist future
United States Vice-President JD Vance, right, shakes hands w
Features / 12 February 2025
12 February 2025
The EU and Nato are umbilically tied – but what will the new Trump era and a reconfiguration of US interests mean for the war in Ukraine, asks VINCE MILLS
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister's Q
Features / 30 December 2024
30 December 2024
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS
Similar stories
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister's Q
Features / 30 December 2024
30 December 2024
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS
TACTICAL MANOEUVRE: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s s
Features / 28 November 2024
28 November 2024
Without challenging the neoliberal framework of our economy or seeking more powers for Scotland, the Scottish Labour leader’s seeming break with Westminster policy rings hollow, writes VINCE MILLS