The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) clearly had a rough ride at this morning’s No 10 press briefing.
One particularly pertinent exchange was the following:
Put that Ministers had felt free to criticise all sorts of decisions made by the National administration in Scotland and what made this issue any different, the PMS replied that this was a unique set of circumstances and a uniquely difficult and sensitive subject. This rested with the Scottish Justice Secretary and we needed to make our position clear throughout which we had done…
Put that there was nothing stopping the Prime Minister from commenting, the PMS said that Justice was a devolved matter and that was the nature of the political arrangement between Scotland and Westminster. Put that it seemed odd that the Prime Minister was not commenting on a position taken by a country within the United Kingdom, the PMS said that he had set out the Government’s position on commenting on the decision taken by Kenny MacAskill.
Notwithstanding the PMS’s response, is, of course, true that ministers routinely criticise the SNP Scottish Executive; indeed, they do so regularly every month at Scottish Questions. Take, for instance, the following random example from July, 2008:
Nigel Griffiths (Edinburgh, South) (Lab): What recent representations he has received from the First Minister on cross-border policing.
The Minister of State, Scotland Office (David Cairns): There are regular and ongoing discussions at both ministerial and official level on a range of cross-border policing issues.
Nigel Griffiths: Are my hon. Friend’s efforts not hampered by the empty promise of 1,000 extra police? After 14 months, not one single extra police officer has been provided. Is that not the most cynical betrayal of our communities by the SNP Administration?
David Cairns: We all remember the clear promise that was made: 1,000 extra policemen. In the Strathclyde police area alone, there are 200 fewer policemen today than there were 12 months ago. Taken with the latest plan to let half of Scotland’s prisoners out on to the streets, that goes to show that the SNP is weak on crime.
Policing, like justice, is a devolved matter in Scotland, yet that constitutional nicety did not inhibit David Cairns from criticising the SNP executive. Not for him the Trappist demeanour adopted by Gordon Brown. No, Cairns gleefully seized the opportunity presented to him by Nigel Griffiths to give the SNP a good old kicking, and to hell with the constitutional settlement.
The more one examines it, the more ridiculous Brown’s position appears. Everyone else can see that; why can’t he?