Tha Boris a-nis a’ deànamh cron air a’ phàrtaidh aige, le Murray MacLeòid

Tha Boris Johnson agus an Riaghaltas aige a’ diùltadh cìsean a gheàrradh ach am bi e nas fhasa dha daoine a bhith beò tron staing eaconomach a tha seo agus e ag ràdh nach eil e idir comasach a h-uile duine a chuideachadh.

Am Prionnsa Teàrlach a’ toirt seachad Òraid na Bànrigh sa phàrlamaid.

[English-language version below]

Tha sin cho ceart ’s a ghabhas agus e a’ toirt beò an t-seann abairt phoileataigich: chan urrainn dhut a h-uile duine a shàsachadh fad na h-ùine.

Ach, ma tha a bhith a’ riaghladh a’ ciallachadh càil idir, no co-dhiù, a bhith a’ riaghladh ann an dòigh chothromach, bu chòir dha a bhith mu dheidhinn cuideachadh a thoirt dhaibhsan a chuireas feum air an taic as motha.

Le sin, bu chòirear smaoineachadh air na thuirt Johnson a-rithist: cò dha a tha iadsan a’ toirt a' chuideachaidh?

Ma tha freagairt idir ri lorg ann am prògram an riaghaltais, mar a chaidh a chur a-mach ann an Òraid na Bànrigh, tha an Riaghaltas a tha seo a’ dol a chur an cùlaibh ris na daoine àbhaisteach, agus iadsan a tha a’ dol a dh’fhulang as motha, airson an aire a chur air prionnsabalan cumhang poileataigeach.

A-mach às na 38 bile a chaidh ainmeachadh, ‘s iad cur às de bharrachd laghan na Roinn Eòrpa an fheadhainn a thog an aire a bu mhotha - “saorsaidhean Bhrexit” mar a thug iad fhèin air – atharrachadh ann an Achd Còirichean a’ Chinne Daonna agus laghan nas cruaidhe an aghaidh iadsan a bhios a’ togail fianais gu poblach.

Dh’fhaodadh dùil a bhith ris an t-seorsa rud seo bho riaghaltas Tòraidheach aig àm abhaisteach, ach tha sinn an-dràsta beò tro àmannan glè neo-àbhaisteach agus bu chòir dùil a bhith ri rudeigin na b’ fheàrr.

Mar as fhaide a tha an ùine a’ dol air adhart, ‘s ann as motha a tha am pàrtaidh seo a’ samhlachadh dhaoine aig nach eil tuigse no diù dha cò ris a tha coltach dhan mhòr-chuid a bhith beò san là a tha ann. Ged a tha Tòraidhean libearalach ann mar Ruth Davidson, tha cus de chleas Jacob Rees Mogg nam measg.

Nuair a bha an Riaghaltas a’ cur a-mach Òraid na Bànrigh, dh’innis Tesco gu bheil tòrr luchd-ceannach a-nis ag ràdh riutha gun barrachd na £40 a chur dhan bhaga aca, oir sin na tha aca airson caitheamh air biadh.

Tha sgeulachdan de chruadal is teaghlaichean ann an staing a’ tighinn gach là, agus a dh’aindeoin sin, tha an riaghaltas seo airson an ùine aca a chaitheamh air eucoirich a dhèanamh de dhaoine a bhios a’ togail fianais air na sràidean.

Thuirt Boris gur dòcha gum bi barrachd cuideachaidh ri fhaighinn nas fhaide air a’ bhliadhna agus ‘s dòcha tro bhith a’ geàrradh chìsean.

Ach, cha dèan sin mòran dha na daoine a tha ann an staing an-dràsta agus, ma tha na thachair gu seo na chomharra, cha tig an taic dha na daoine is airidh air.

Chan eil cho fada sin bho bha Boris feumail dhan Phàrtaidh Tòraidheach, ag èigheach is a’ còmhstri às dèidh soirbheachais bhòt Brexit.

Ach mar a tha bhòt nan comhairlean ionadail an t-seachdain a chaidh a’ sealltainn, tha e a-nis a’ deànamh cron orra agus tha fios gu bheil an iomadach Toraidh chiallaich ann an Alba air leth draghail gur e an aon buaidh a tha e toirt a-nis ‘s e a bhith tionndadh barrachd dhaoine gu neo-eisimleachd dha Alba.

Tha na cunntasan-sluaigh agus na taghaidhean fhathast a’ sealltain gu bheil an àireamh as motha aig luchd-taic an aonaidh, ach tha an àrainneachd abach son an tuilleadh mì-rian is sgaradh. ‘S e Nicola agus an SNP a bhios air an dòigh glan le Boris.

Boris Johnson, and by extension his government, has rejected calls for a tax cut to ease the cost-of-living crisis, saying he cannot shield everyone from the pain to come.

That is absolutely correct and simply harks back to the old political truism of not being able to please everyone all of the time.

They will have calculated, too, that – at least in terms of the external major contributory factors, the global food crisis and the rise in energy prices – your average voter will not lay the blame for the current emergency at the door of Number 10. So it gives them a little breathing space.

Yet if to govern means anything at all, or at least to govern responsibly, it should be with the express intention of helping.

So the original query about the UK Government’s intentions needs to be re-framed: just who is this particular government choosing to help?

If the answer is to be found in the programme of government, as laid out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this week, then this is a government on course to turn its back on the popular vote, to leave those most in need of help floundering to survive in the biggest economic crash in a generation and focus instead on a narrow political ideology.

Of the 38 bills that set out the government’s programme, the main headlines were powers to revoke EU laws – “Brexit freedoms” as they were called – changes to the Human Rights Act, making it easier for offenders to be deported, and a clampdown on public protest.

It’s probably exactly the sort of thing you would expect from a Tory government under normal circumstances, but we are living in extraordinary economic times.

More and more this ruling administration resembles a party not of the One Nation liberal Conservatism as characterised by, say, a Ruth Davidson, but more an out-of-touch elite totally divorced from the lives of the majority, as exemplified by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

As the government laid out its Queen’s Speech, Tesco revealed that shoppers were now asking cashiers to stop putting items through the tills once the total reached £40 as it was all they could afford.

Individual stories of hardship and family struggles come thick and fast every day, yet this government chooses to put its energies instead into criminalising protestors.

Johnson did give some sort of hint that more help could be on its way, probably later in the year and possibly in the form of some tax cuts.

But that hardly helps those that are in need right now and, if past form is anything to go by, it will once again fail to target the right demographic: ie, those who are truly struggling.

Johnson was, not that so long ago, politically advantageous for the party, a bombastic public campaigner riding high on the success of the Brexit vote.

Yet as last week’s council election results showed, he is now a liability and it must deeply concern the moderate Tory Scots just how much of a recruiting sergeant he is proving to be to the cause of Scottish independence.

The polls on that front remain stubbornly in favour of the Union. But with conditions getting ever more ripe for sowing the seeds of further discord, there’s a question as to just how long that will last. Sturgeon and the SNP will be quietly skipping the light fantastic in delight at Boris.