Our Foreign Secretary now condemns Israel in the Commons, yet Britain still supplies weapons and intelligence for its bombing campaigns — as the horror reaches perhaps the final stage, action must finally replace words, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP

WHEN I was elected to the Scottish Parliament earlier this year, I was under no illusion that it would not be an uphill struggle to push beyond the empty platitudes common in Holyrood and bring about real change.
After all, this is a parliament which has been increasingly defined by complacency in the face of rising levels of inequality, the increasing concentration of economic power in the hands of a few and an escalating climate emergency.
So I understand why many voters viewed the decision of the Scottish Greens to enter a co-operation agreement with the SNP as a chance to shake the Parliament out of its complacency and start to deliver the transformative changes which we desperately need.

The shock suspension of socialist MPs and Diane Abbott’s re-suspension reveals a leadership intent on crushing internal debate — but MERCEDES VILLALBA MSP warns against surrendering party democracy without a fight


