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Scotland and the Union

I do not doubt the hon. Gentleman’s Scottish credentials, but the question was put to English people by ICM, and 56 per cent. said that Scotland should be independent. That is what the survey found, and it is consistent with several opinion polls that canvassed the people of England on the matter. It seems that the English people are way ahead of the hon. Gentleman and his party. Getting back to the debate about Government policy on Scotland, which I am sure you are keen for us to do, Mr. Cummings, it is clear that the Scottish people have decided that it is time to move on. It is time to put an end to the mediocrity that has been a feature of the Scottish government since its inception. It is time to remove the dead hand of the Labour hegemony and Labour politics in Scotland. Fifty years of the dead hand of Labour is coming to an end—it will be part of history. Scotland will move on to a new chapter of its story that will be characterised by hope, optimism, ambition and aspiration.