SCOTTISH actor Alan Cumming clashed with former Tory leader Michael Howard during his appearance on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
Howard, who served as leader of the Conservatives from 2003 to 2005, claimed his party are the “most successful political party in the world”.
He said the reason for this was because they “adapted principles in a pragmatic way to the challenges that face the country”.
Cumming and fellow panellist Isabel Oakeshott were both left looking bemused at Howard’s comments.
Oakeshott, a political journalist, said Howard’s views were “extraordinarily arrogant” when “you look at the state our country is in right now”.
Cumming said it was not true the Conservatives were “the most successful political party in the world”, describing it as a fallacy.
Howard said it was “absolutely true” which Cumming questioned before adding “they’re not very successful now though”.
The Scottish actor replied it was “all a matter of perspective” and was left laughing as Oakeshott took aim at a list of Tory failures from the NHS to immigration.
The former Tory leader said: “If you look at the challenges our country has faced we inherited an economy that was just coming out of the financial crash, we then had the pandemic.
“We now have a war on the continent of Europe. No recent government has ever faced challenges of this sort.”
Cumming added: “I think you talk about, we heard about Boris’s perspective, that’s your (Howard’s) perspective.
“I don’t think that’s a perspective that is shared by the majority of people in this country right now, at this moment.
“And one of the things I’m taking from all these interviews is the question of Brexit and about how far, they could have gone further, is Rishi Sunak not going as far as he could?”
He joked that he wanted Nigel Farage to be there “in real life” rather than “sneaking in in the dark” to do a pre-recorded interview.
“Tell me some positive things about Brexit. Because we never seem to hear about those”, Cumming added.
Independence
Humza Yousaf also appeared on the show on Sunday morning where he said that support for independence was “rock solid”.
He added that, at the next General Election, a vote for the SNP would be a “vote for independence”.
In response to the interview, Cumming said he believed the Scottish Parliament “was stuck” owing to the number of laws being “struck down by Westminster” including the Deposit Return Scheme and the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
“I just think imagine if laws were passed in Westminster unanimously and then another body struck them down, I guess that’s the House of Lords.”
Asked if Yousaf had a “credible” plan to achieve independence, he said: “Yeah I do. I think they’re (the SNP) going through a lot of trouble and readjustment right now.
“It’s traumatic for everybody, for the people of Scotland. I think the plan for independence is based on the Westminster government respecting the will of not just the Scottish people but the Scottish devolved parliament”, he said.
Thoughts on Labour
While Labour MP David Lammy said his party would “address the democratic deficit in the House of Lords”.
He says the party would preserve the honours system because Keir Starmer is a man of “incredible integrity”, and he would use it to recognise pillars of communities.
Cumming said he was “horrified” that Labour would not be ridding the UK of the honours system.
Alan Cumming(actor) - "The problem with British politics is we have the Conservative Party & conservative light with the Labour Party... so where do working people go when they want a little more left wing, they don't have an option anymore... "#bbclaurak #Ridge pic.twitter.com/kJ6UiwnwGd
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) June 11, 2023
“I think that’s the problem in British politics. You have the Conservative Party and then Conservative light with the Labour Party.”
He questioned where working people who want a “left-wing” option could find a party that would represent them.
