The Viceroy's embarrassments are piling up

Let's add to them by asking him to implement the ICCPR

Embarrassments for Viceroy Murray are piling up. Here are just 3 in recent days.

First, in an interview with Martin Geissler the Viceroy disavowed his pre-election boast that he had £150m in levelling up funds to tackle poverty in Scotland.

Yet he’s on record as saying:

“This funding will help create jobs across the country and unlock opportunities across Scotland, especially in deprived communities who have been let down by the Tories and the SNP for too long.”

Now he claims the figure was made-up by the Sunday Mail. Funny he didn’t correct it before the election.

Second, it was revealed the Viceroy and branch manager Anas Sarwar accepted free hospitality on Saturday at Anfield where Liverpool beat Bournemouth (both English teams) 3-0.

Not a good look when his boss, Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Education Secretary Bridget Philipson have all been caught sponging off of Lord Alli.

Third, a 2022 tweet surfaced where Murray said pensioners will freeze in their homes unless (the then Tory) government acted.

He’s now defending Reeves’ Winter Fuel Allowance (WFA) cut and falsely claims next April’s paltry £460 pension increase will more than make up for the WFA loss when the increase applies only to 1 in 4 pensioners who get the ‘new’ state pension, not to those on the old pension. Oh, and he doesn’t mention that the October 10% rise in the energy price cap will hit the poorest hardest.

So maybe you’re wondering what exactly does the Secretary of State for Scotland do for his £158,851 salary (£91,346 MP salary plus expenses and £67,505 Cabinet minister salary)?

Here’s what the UK government says:

I’d say the Viceroy does very little. Prior to the Scotland Act 1998 and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, all devolved matters would have been handled by Westminster - the Secretary of State for Scotland ensured that London’s decisions were implemented in Scotland.

Now the Viceroy is the ‘custodian’ of the devolution settlement, and is supposed to stand up for Scotland’s interests with the colonial overlord. I think we can agree that’s not happening. The Viceroy hasn’t supported any more powers for Scotland and he shows every sign of wanting to revert back to complete colonial control over ‘north Britain.’

But what really caught my attention is that the Viceroy is responsible for orders made under the Scotland Act 1998.

The Scotland Act Schedule 5 gives the Scottish Parliament the power to observe and implement international obligations under the Human Rights Convention such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the UK ratified in 1976, but has failed to enact into UK law.

Although it’s not an order, it is a power granted to Holyrood that the Viceroy should encourage if he actually had Scotland’s interests at heart. That’s because implementing ICCPR into Scots Law would give the Scottish People the political rights they need to exercise their sovereignty.

In our Open Letter to the First Minister, we asked him to do just this but have had no response. So we lose nothing by asking the Viceroy to take up the cause as it falls within his brief. If nothing else, it will add to his growing list of embarrassments and it might encourage the First Minister to make good on his promise to give the People the democratic tools they need:

“I have complete faith in the people of Scotland to take the right decisions about their future. If we give them the tools, they can build whatever country they want.”