Mhairi Black, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South has written a passionate piece about her fear for the way the Conservative Government in Westminster is going.
Published in her column for the National Newspaper, she explains her fear for the country after a speech given by Amber Rudd at the Conservative party conference.
She also goes on t0o explain how she is annoyed by the word ‘nationalist’ as she does not see herself as one.
Here is opening text from her article, the rest can be viewed at the National newspapers’s website here.
“In my year and a half of being a politician I can truly say that I have never been more horrified or afraid of the rhetoric coming from the Conservative Government as I have this past week. To read the headlines of the major British newspapers felt like I had awoken in some dystopian, V for Vendetta-esque society. The Conservative Party’s mask as ‘a party of the common people’ has slipped to reveal the xenophobic, often racist, nationalist, ugly face beneath. The very fact that they now openly share the same values and policies as Ukip says it all.
“Immediately, I know that unionists will cry hypocrisy when they see that I have labelled the Conservative Party as ‘nationalist’, so let me explain. I myself have never identified with the word ‘nationalist’ and if I am honest, the thing that irritates me most is that I am automatically labelled as such purely because I am in the SNP. I believe in independence purely for practical reasons rather than emotional ones. I want Scotland to have total control and power over its own policies, government and direction of travel. I believe the SNP is the best vehicle to achieving that goal, however, after independence, everyone’s vote is up for grabs (including my own), and that can only be considered a healthy thing.
“I like so many others am incredibly proud to be a part of the independence movement. Mainly for its inclusive, pro-migration and diverse nature. I love the fact that Scotland is, as a whole, a welcoming country filled with people from different backgrounds embracing each others cultures. I am extremely proud that these are also the values of the SNP. The SNP label these characteristics as ‘civic nationalism’, others label it as ‘culturalism’. I personally label it as simply being a good and kind citizen. And yet, continually we allow our opponents and the mainstream media to label us as ‘divisive’, ‘petty’ and small minded ‘nationalists’, motivated by some form of ugly racism.
“So let me be clear, I quite frankly could not care less about where I was born or where others were born. I have no care for what nationality people consider themselves as, after all, where you are born is down to total, random, pot luck. I do however care when that ‘nationalism’ is used as a motivation or an excuse for racist, bigoted and small minded policy, and this week we have seen the worst of it.
“The Conservative Party’s conference has unleashed ugly and downright scary rhetoric that I was brought up to believe was to be left in the past. I am not exaggerating when I say that the policies being brought forward are reminiscent of early 1930s Nazi Germany.”