STEPHEN Flynn said the SNP would “take no lectures” from the Tories on sleaze – highlighting the two fines the Prime Minister has received while at the top of British politics.
The SNP’s Westminster leader hit back at Rishi Sunak’s jibe about the ongoing police probe into the finances during an exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Flynn was met with a wall of heckles as he rose to speak, with Tories shouting about the seizure of a campervan a part of the investigation.
The SNP MP quipped: "I’m delighted to hear that they had an equally peaceful and relaxing Easter break as I did."
He then turned his attention comments made by Douglas Ross over the Easter break, encouraging Unionists to vote for Labour if they were best placed to beat the SNP in their constituencies.
Flynn said: "Was it their refusal to stand alongside striking workers on the picket line, their acceptance of the economic damage being caused by Brexit, or perhaps their support for denying the people of Scotland the right to choose their own future which led to the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party urging voters to back Labour?”
The PM replied: “I know at the moment him and his party are focused on other matters, we’re just going to motor on with the job.”
Flynn hit back – accusing the Conservatives of taking donations from Kremlin-linked figures and pointing to other examples of alleged Tory sleaze.
He said: “Let me be clear, we will take no lectures, no lectures, from a party which has not had a mandate to govern in Scotland since 1955, which went through three prime ministers in the course of just a matter of months.
“You crashed the economy, you’ve sent mortgage rates soaring, you’ve taken energy support away from families most in need.
“Now the Prime Minister has been fined by the polis not once, but twice. You take donations from Russian-backed donors, and of course, you’ve stuffed the House of Lords with people like Baroness Mone.
“Now […] let’s be clear what we’re talking about is the leader of the Scottish Conservatives believes that the people of Scotland should return Labour Party members of parliament to this house, rather than Scottish National Party members to this house. So isn’t the message to the people of Scotland quite clear? Don’t give the Tories what they want.”
Sunak responded: “The Scottish Conservatives deserve enormous praise for forcing the SNP into abandoning their completely unworkable, fundamentally flawed deposit return scheme.
“So it’s good that the SNP U-turned and listened to the voice of Scottish Conservatives and to business and we look forward to working with them on something that actually works to deliver for the people of Scotland.
“And that’s just it […] because if they can’t fix the mess that Nicola Sturgeon left their party in, how can they possibly fix the mess that she left Scotland in?”
