The UK government and Westminster parties are completely out of
step with public opinion on the need for an immediate ceasefire
in hostilities in Gaza, the SNP has said.
It comes as a poll from YouGov for Medical Aid for Palestinians
conducted in late December revealed that 71% of the British
public believe there definitely (48%) or probably (23%) should be
an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Palestine. Conversely, only
6% felt that there should probably not be an immediate
ceasefire.
Despite the findings, and estimates that more than 21,600
Palestinians have been killed with 56,100 injured, both Labour
and the Conservative UK government oppose an immediate
ceasefire.
Brendan O’Hara, the SNP’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, called
Westminster a “broken system” out of touch with not just Scottish
opinion, but British public opinion too.
Commenting, Brendan O’Hara MP said:
“With Westminster so clearly out of step on public opinion over a
matter integral to our collective moral compass, it can, in no
way, claim to be representative of Scotland or Britain as a
whole.
“It’s a broken system when 71% of the population support a stance
as important as this, yet Westminster’s two biggest parties
ignore it in favour of their own morally-bankrupt stance in
support of more suffering and death.
“The situation in Gaza is a desperate one that becomes more
bloody and gruesome by the day. We all have a moral duty to
stand against more bloodshed and call for an immediate
ceasefire.
“Issues like this make it abundantly clear that Scotland’s voice
isn’t respected in Westminster - and they have no interest
in what the public wants.
“Scotland can be a leader on the foreign stage but we’re being
held back by Westminster and its refusal to fulfil its moral
obligations."
ENDS
Notes for editors:
YouGov poll
