MP Dr Lisa Cameron who defected to Tories 'forced into hiding'

[sl8]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67108282

MP Dr Lisa Cameron who defected to Tories 'forced into hiding'

Published 1 hr ago

A former SNP MP who defected to the Conservatives has claimed she and her family have had to go into hiding due to threats of violence.

Dr Lisa Cameron said she had to leave her home after she was threatened with being "bricked in the street".

She told the The Times she had received a "torrent of abuse" in emails since announcing her defection on Thursday.

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has called on her to "do the honourable thing" and stand down, triggering a by-election

[...]

[Celerity]

1. Dr Cameron's claims have been dismissed by senior SNP figures including party president Mike Russell

He told BBC's Good Morning Scotland on Friday that her claims were "unsubstantiated".

[peppertree]

6. The old seizing-the-narrative and self-victimization ploy

Typical.

[Emrys]

2. If she's been threatened, that's terrible, and she should be protected and those

responsible arrested and prosecuted as soon as possible to the full extent of the law.

Unfortunately, she has little credibility, having been shown to be a proven liar about a number of issues and claims before and after she switched parties.

[T_i_B]

3. There's bullies in all political parties sadly

It is sadly all too believable that this would happen in the SNP given the frequently obnoxious behaviour of their supporters online but they are hardly the only ones guilty of this. For example there's been numerous allegations of bullying made about the Tories in the part of Derbyshire where I used to live.

The more odd part of this is why she's gone from the SNP to the Tories. The most likely explanation I can think of would be opposition to trans rights and legislation about this introduced by the SNP.

This is good news for Labour though as it makes it easier for them to retake the seat at the next election and even to resurrect the old line about the SNP being "tartan tories"

[Emrys]

4. I don't think the "Tartan Tory" jibe will fly,

given how many councils in Scotland are being run by Labour/Tory coalitions, and how some Labour apparatchiks have even boasted on TV about doing this deliberately to keep the plurality SNP out of power in certain council areas.

In fact, Labour would be just as well keeping its trap shut in Scotland since every time it yaps, it shows its hypocrisy.

It was doing cartwheels over its recent by-election win with a candidate who'd resigned from the party a couple of years ago because of disagreements with party leadership over policies like the EU and the two-child limit for receiving benefits. Even after his hustings, an election campaign that saw many English Labour MPs visit the constituency, probably for the first and quite likely the last time, including Keir Starmer himself, and the result, I don't think anyone's any wiser whether Labour's sparkling new Scottish MP will follow the party whip or not - i.e. will he end up a hypocrite or a pariah?

Anas Sarwar, Labour's leader in Holyrood, himself is an utter hypocrite. He's been vocal in calling for large wage settlements in various recent disputes when he, a millionaire, benefits from shareholdings in his family's wholesale firm which refuses to pay its workers a living wage "because it's voluntary".

Cameron's been out of step with SNP policy for quite some time. She's not been alone in that, but seems to have navigated it very poorly indeed to the point where she was literally just about to be deselected by her local party before she turned coat.

Sunak was supposedly closely involved in coaching/poaching her because her discontent was absolutely no secret. There are even rumours she's been offered a seat in the Lords in the fulness of time. What's verifiable is that by changing party, rather than simply resigning and forcing a by-election as she originally threatened if she was deselected, she'll get a generous ex-MP's payoff when she ultimately loses the seat as a Tory.

Just a week or so ago before this all blew up, she was proclaiming her staunch commitment to Scottish independence, so I think we can be forgiven for taking anything she says with a large pinch of salt.

As for the loons on social media, I almost certainly have them blocked, along with the large and rabid bunch of arch-unionists and rightwingers, and it has to be said, the occasional Labour supporter, who seem to have an alarming amount of time on their hands and absolutely nothing constructive, or indeed truthful, to say, and some of the vilest lines in sinister trolling that anyone is likely to be able to find. Cameron better hope she doesn't fall foul of them or she will indeed have something to complain about.

[Emrys]

5. An afterthought about that "Tartan Tory" thing

If you take a look at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election results, you'll see they played out like this:

GLORIA ADEBO Scottish Liberal Democrats 895

BILL BONNAR Scottish Socialist Party - Free Public Transport 271

GARRY PATRICK COOKE 6

ANDREW VINCENT DALY Independent 81

CAMERON EADIE Scottish Green Party 601

PRINCE ANKIT LOVE EMPEROR OF INDIA 34

NIALL FRASER Scottish Family Party - Fearlessly Speaking Truth 319

EWAN HOYLE Volt UK - The UK in Europe 46

THOMAS JORDAN KERR Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 1,192

KATY LOUDON Scottish National Party (SNP) 8,399

CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY SERMANNI Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 178

MICHAEL SHANKS Scottish Labour Party 17,845

DAVID STARK Reform UK - Changing Politics for Good 403

COLETTE WALKER Independence for Scotland Party 207

https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/200237/elections/2183/rutherglen_and_hamilton_west_by-election_results

In 2019, Margaret Ferrier won the seat from Labour with 23,775 votes. Labour's Ged Killen got 18,545 votes. The Tories' Lynne Nailon got 8,054 votes.

In the by-election, the Tory vote collapsed, to the extent that their candidate lost his deposit. Allowing for a reduced turnout, it's not a stretch to see the result reflecting tactical anti-SNP voting, implying that Tory voters held their noses and voted for Michael Shanks. It looks like SNP voters stayed at home - maybe not surprising given the extended period between Margaret Ferrier being convicted for her breach of COVID rules and finally being suspended from parliament and the recall petition that triggered the by-election. (As an aside, her conduct was inexcusable, but she paid a very heavy price compared to various Tory politicians who are still being held to account for their own transgressions.)

The constituency had never been a safe SNP seat anyway, having see-sawed between Labour and the SNP in recent alternate elections.

South Larkshire Council, which includes the constituency, has a party breakdown that looks like this:

Scottish National Party 27

Labour 24

Conservative 7

Liberal Democrats 3

Independent 2

Green 1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Lanarkshire_Council

Although the SNP is the largest party, the council is run by a Labour-Tory-Lib Dem "partnership" (Labour shy away from calling it a coalition). That's democracy for you.

Elsewhere, Ian Murray, Labour's only Scottish MP until the by-election, has famously repeatedly held his seat in a well-to-do part of Edinburgh South with the help of Tory tactical voters.

With even the current mere sniff of the possibility of taking power, rifts have emerged between Murray, who assumes he will take over from the abominable nob Tory Alister Jack as Secretary of State for Scotland, and Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar. Murray's intention to continue Jack's interpretation of the role as a viceroyship is indicated by his current disagreement with Sarwar over the role and extent of devolution, awkwardly straddling the line between what policies Starmer wants for the UK and what Sarwar, supposedly in lockstep with Starmer, according to Starmer at least, proclaims as Scottish Labour policy:

Both Starmer and Sarwar right over two-child benefit cap, says Murray
...

Sir Keir Starmer would not pledge to drop the controversial measure – which has been criticised by opposition politicians, including those from his own party, and leading poverty charities – last week.

Within 24 hours, however, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he and his MSPs would “press” the UK leader to commit to scrapping the cap if he wins the next general election.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ian-murray-labour-scottish-scottish-labour-msps-b2379515.html

Labour Shadow Scottish Secretary rejects case for more powers for Holyrood

...

Ian Murray said the focus should be on the Scottish Government using their existing powers better.

He also rejected claims MSPs should have the legal right to set a higher minimum wage.

...

Party insiders have told the Record there are tensions between UK and Scottish Labour on transferring new powers to Holyrood.

The Scottish party backs the devolution of employment law, with leader Anas Sarwar saying it could be ‘phase 2’ of a Keir Starmer Government.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/labour-shadow-scottish-secretary-rejects-31175267

Murray and Sarwar also appear to differ on issues like the Gender Recognition Reform at Holyrood, which had cross-party support until the Tories, and seemingly latterly Labour, chose to use it as a wedge issue.

We've yet to see which version of Michael Shanks MP the electorate have got for their votes, but before coming an MP, he showed signs of being something of a wild card and loose cannon on various issues where Starmer's taken a hard line.

These sorts of tensions will only multiply if Labour do manage to win more Scottish Westminster seats, so they should be careful what they wish for.