In his latest Post column, Clydebank's MP Martin Docherty-Hughes shares his thoughts on politics south of the border...
 

January has been a tough month for families in West Dunbartonshire and across the country. Freezing weather, severe storms, rising food prices and soaring household costs have hit hard for many of my constituents.

In parliament, I have been speaking up for local people struggling with high energy bills and rising debt. I also challenged the Prime Minister on the unfair treatment of mortgage prisoners – an estimated 20,000 Scots at risk of losing their homes due to excessive mortgage rates.

It may be a new year, but it’s the same old story of our communities being disregarded by an out-of-touch and dysfunctional Westminster government.

Remarkably, in an election year, the Tories are once again consumed by internal party squabbles. Rishi Sunak’s coat is on a shoogly peg, as Conservative MPs plot to oust him and inflict a fifth different Tory PM on us in 5 years.

It’s no surprise that the polls make dire reading for the Tories, given their litany of failures under Thersea May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak.

The general election can’t come soon enough, and we in the SNP are putting the fight against Westminster cuts at the centre of our campaign.

Despite Keir Starmer’s pale imitation of the Tories, the lacklustre Labour Leader looks odds-on to become Prime Minister after the election.

What’s clear though is that the closer Sir Keir gets to Number 10, the further away he gets from the priorities and values of the people of Scotland.

The British Labour party is abandoning any sense that it’s a progressive party - lurching to the right in a despairing attempt to out-Tory the Tories.

They back the Tories on everything from Brexit to saying no to Indyref2. They refuse to commit to reversing Westminster austerity cuts. And when they can’t even say they will work to redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest, who knows what Sir Keir actually stands for these days?

Just last month the Labour leader proudly declared his admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who inflicted such lasting damage to our local communities. A timely reminder for voters in Scotland that we will never be a priority for the Westminster establishment – regardless of whether it’s Labour or the Tories in power.

Electing a strong group of SNP MPs at the upcoming election will hold Labour’s feet to the fire and ensure Scotland’s voice is heard.

Only a vote the SNP can deliver real change for Scotland - and rid us of Tory governments once and for all.