SALMOND – WESTMINSTER’S “EXTRAORDINARY DECLINE”

SALMOND – WESTMINSTER’S “EXTRAORDINARY DECLINE”

COMMONS REPUTATION “NEVER BEEN LOWER”.

SNP leader Alex Salmond has recorded a special message to mark his departure from Westminster after 23 years as an MP.

In the broadcast, which will be posted on YouTube, Mr Salmond said his time in the Commons had witnessed an "extraordinary decline" in the reputation of the UK Parliament.

Mr Salmond said: “This coming Monday I stand down as a Member of Parliament after 23 years as an MP for Banff and Buchan.

"Now, the folk of Banff and Buchan are great and they will always be great. But Westminster has declined in an extraordinary fashion over the last two decades.

"When I went there at first, when you went into the chamber of the House of Commons there were folk worth listening to – people like Tony Benn and John Biffen, people of principle. People who disagreed but who were arguing out a principled position of politics from a different standpoint – you get none of that now, none of it at all.

"But even more seriously, the reputation of the House of Commons has never been lower.

"It is like the 90s and John Major and all that back to basics stuff amplified 10 times over, because not only have you got the cabs for hire ex-Labour Ministers selling their services to lobbying companies quite openly...you have this whole issue of expenses.
"The three party leaders – each one of the three major parties in London, have had to give money back after Sir Thomas Legg examined their expenses.

"Yet the three party leaders talk about all the other MPs expenses in disparaging terms – they should clean up their own act.

"It is an extraordinary situation when so many MPs have fallen so low in public esteem, and the contrast I would just like to make is with this building behind me, this building here.

"The Scottish Parliament is not perfect, no democratic institution is ever perfect. But in terms of transparency, in terms of getting its business done, it is light years – light years – ahead of the House of Commons. And in terms of working for the Scottish people it is also far, far ahead.

"So in this election, when we talk about having local champions for communities, people raging against the machine, what we are talking about is articulating the people’s concerns and the rage against the Westminster machine, and we are also talking about having national champions for Scotland.

"So hopefully, if we get a group, a squad, or a bloc of SNP MPs put in Westminster, hopefully in a balanced parliament situation then they will be able to get Scotland up the priority list - but not just gaining things for Scotland, protecting Scottish spending, but also articulating concerns of the people to be genuine local and national champions for Scotland.”