The Tories aren't the only ones facing the prospect of "electoral Armageddon" next week, said John Crace in The Guardian. Things are also looking bleak for the SNP.
The latest polls suggest that, in the face of a Labour resurgence, the scandal-racked party could win just 15 of the 57 Scottish seats in Westminster, down from their current 43.
Voters 'weary'
The SNP's election manifesto, unveiled last week by the party's new leader, John Swinney, is unlikely to transform the situation. It sounds just like the last one, and the one before that.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is the usual demand for Scottish independence. The same talk of joining the EU. Predictably, it calls for an end to austerity, including a £10bn increase in health funding in England – which would generate an extra £1bn for Scotland through the Barnett formula. It's hard to be inspired by such familiar fare from the party that has been governing Scotland for 17 years.
Voters are "getting weary of this kind of politics", said The Scotsman. They want their elected leaders to improve Scotland's substandard public services, not spend more time and energy – and taxpayers' money – on fighting Westminster. The SNP missed a good opportunity to set a new course, agreed The Times. "A government that cannot build ferries for its far-flung islands, introduce legislation that will stand up in the courts, bring down waiting lists or improve the performance of its schools should surely explain how it intends to reverse those failures."
'Separatist mindset'
The margin in many Scottish seats is very narrow, said Andrew Grice in The Independent, so the SNP may yet do better than expected. And even if Scottish voters do swing behind Labour next week to "get the Tories out", there's no guarantee they'll help it regain power from the SNP at the 2026 Holyrood elections. "Scots are not yet emotionally invested in Labour", and remain split down the middle on the question of independence.
What's really noticeable about the political mood north of the border today, said Gerald Warner on Reaction, is just how little interest there is in the Westminster election. It is viewed with the same indifference as elections to the EU parliament. "Scots have come to regard Holyrood elections as the ones that matter."
This is an alarming development for those who believe in preserving the United Kingdom. For it suggests that the "separatist mindset" is now embedded among Scotland's voters, and that if the SNP are "ever able to cobble together a plausible fiscal scenario for independence, the Union will be in serious danger".
-
Taiwan eyes Iron Dome-like defence against ChinaUnder the Radar President announces historic increase in defence spending as Chinese aggression towards autonomous island escalates
-
Political cartoons for November 30Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the Saudi-China relationship, MAGA spelled wrong, and more
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
The US-Saudi relationship: too big to fail?Talking Point With the Saudis investing $1 trillion into the US, and Trump granting them ‘major non-Nato ally’ status, for now the two countries need each other
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
What does the fall in net migration mean for the UK?Today’s Big Question With Labour and the Tories trying to ‘claim credit’ for lower figures, the ‘underlying picture is far less clear-cut’
-
Tariffs: Will Trump’s reversal lower prices?Feature Retailers may not pass on the savings from tariff reductions to consumers
-
American antisemitismFeature The world’s oldest hatred is on the rise in U.S. Why?
-
Trump: Is he losing control of MAGA?Feature We may be seeing the ‘first meaningful right-wing rebellion against autocracy of this era’
-
US government shutdown: why the Democrats ‘caved’In the Spotlight The recent stalemate in Congress could soon be ‘overshadowed by more enduring public perceptions’
-
Dick Cheney: the vice president who led the War on Terrorfeature Cheney died this month at the age of 84
