The House of Commons has already spent taxpayer money on measures to ensure that Scots MPs\u2019 will be locked out of House of Commons votes, despite the Tory measures not even being approved by Westminster, the SNP has learned.<\/p>\n
In contrast to the Scottish Parliament \u2013 where the legislators vote electronically on a key pad on their Holyrood desks \u2013 MPs\u2019 in the House of Commons still vote by funnelling down \u2018Aye\u2019 or \u2018Nay\u2019 lobbies, with their votes being counted manually. However, in a bid to modernise the Parliament the House of Commons decided to spend \u00a35000 on developing software to count the MPs electronically, along with \u00a34900 on iPads last year (2014\/15).<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the Tory proposals for \u2018English Votes for English Laws\u2019 (EVEL), a further \u00a31700 was then spent on adapting the \u00a35000 software to record \u2018double majorities\u2019, ensuring that Scots MPs\u2019 votes aren\u2019t recorded for English-only divisions despite the proposals not gaining support from the Parliament and the Tory government forced in a humiliating climb down.<\/p>\n
A further \u00a35000 was also spent on tablet devices bringing the totals to:
\n\u00a39,900 for tablet devices over 2014\/15 & 2015\/16.
\n\u00a35000 for original software in 2014\/15
\n\u00a31700 for software to be adapted for EVEL in 2015\/16<\/p>\n
Commenting, Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman who uncovered the information in a Parliamentary Question said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tories\u2019 EVEL proposals are in complete disarray and as can be seen from the UK government\u2019s humiliating backtrack, faltering when challenged by MPs. It must then be asked why taxpayers\u2019 money has already been spent on adapting software \u2013 which was only purchased last year at a cost of \u00a35000 to the taxpayer \u2013 to ensure Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs are locked out of certain votes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Tories\u2019 EVEL proposals are successfully passed by the Westminster Parliament, Scottish MPs will be given a second class status. Whilst it is not the largest sum of money to be wasted by the Westminster establishment, it speaks volumes about their attitude towards Scotland and the rights of our democratically elected representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis waste of cash really hits home when you consider the Tories\u2019 just passed a budget \u2013 supported by Labour inaction \u2013 that is attacking working families and the most vulnerable in society. It is clear to see that the priorities of the Westminster establishment are more focused on protecting their own interests than serving the people they are meant to represent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The House of Commons has already spent taxpayer money on measures to ensure that Scots MPs\u2019 will be locked out of House of Commons votes, despite the Tory measures not even being approved by Westminster, the SNP has learned. In contrast to the Scottish Parliament \u2013 where the legislators vote electronically on a key pad on their Holyrood desks \u2013 MPs\u2019 in the House of Commons still vote by funnelling down \u2018Aye\u2019 or \u2018Nay\u2019 lobbies, with their votes being counted manually. However, in a bid to modernise the Parliament the House of Commons decided to spend \u00a35000 on developing software to count the MPs electronically,Read More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[139,74,141,140,66],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}