By Rab Bruce’s Spider

The arrival of the SNP at the House of Commons hasn’t been so much like putting cats among the pigeons as foxes in the henhouse. They’ve certainly created a stir but, aside from the clapping and Tweeting Selfies, two stories have dominated the controversy surrounding their presence.

First, there’s the issue of who sits where and, secondly, there is the speculation over the SNP’s position on the proposed repeal of the ban on fox hunting in England and Wales. What these seemingly unrelated topics have in common is that the SNP should stick to their guns on both.

Arguing over who sits where seems petty and childish, with many people proclaiming that the MPs should grow up and get on with the job they were elected to do. This seems fair enough until you remember just how possessive we all get over our habitual seats. If you are in a cinema or some other public place and you leave your seat for a while, how annoyed are you if you return to find someone else sitting there even if there are plenty of other seats available? And do you remember how, at school, you always claimed the same seat in the same classroom? When viewed that way, Labour’s refusal to budge appears a bit more understandable but the SNP really can’t afford to let themselves be shoehorned in at the back of the chamber. They are the third largest party and should be able to sit in the seats formerly occupied by the Liberal Democrats when they occupied that position. If they meekly submit to being relegated to the back benches, the Westminster Mob will have gained a small but psychologically important victory. Yes, it seems petty and infantile and the whole matter should be resolved in a more adult manner than mere squabbling but let’s hope we can see our MPs occupying prominent positions in the House of Commons.

The second issue is more important but this time the SNP should not allow themselves to be dragged into the debate.

Fox hunting is a cruel, barbaric and bloodthirsty pastime which is not worthy of any civilised society. It was banned in Scotland in 2002 although, even here Hunts are permitted to use dogs to flush out foxes so that they can be shot. However, there are no real demands for the ban to be lifted in Scotland.

The same is not true in England where repeal of the ban is part of the Tory manifesto and, unless some of the Government’s own backbenchers vote against it, the ban could soon be lifted.

There are some people demanding that SNP MPs break their self-imposed restriction on not voting on purely English and Welsh matters in order to ensure that the fox hunting ban is not lifted in England and Wales. While the motives of those expressing this point of view are understandable, it would be a mistake for the SNP to vote on this matter.

It must be remembered that the voters of England elected a Tory Government and one must assume that they are either quite happy to see fox hunting reintroduced or that they feel it is a price worth paying in order to allow the Tories to continue their misguided Austerity economics and the victimisation of the poor. The other distinct possibility is that people did not read the manifesto and were therefore unaware of the proposal to repeal the legislation banning fox hunting but even this should not influence the SNP MPs.

All MPs are, of course, entitled to vote on all matters but to break their own self-imposed rule on this issue would be foolish in the extreme as it would gift the Tories ammunition because of a clearly broken promise. The legislation in question is only applicable in England and Wales and, unlike many other matters, cannot possibly have any impact on Scotland unless a bunch of hoity-toity toffs inadvertently strays across the Border in pursuit of a fleeing fox, in which case they could and should be prosecuted for being both geographically and societally challenge. Other than that, Scotland and Scottish MPs have no interest in this debate and should stay out of the discussion because, even though animal welfare is something close to many people’s hearts, it would be a greater hypocrisy for Scottish MPs to vote on a matter where English and Welsh MPs were unable to vote on the same legislation in Scotland.

The other factor is that breaking their avowed intention would foster resentment among English MPs and voters, as well as antagonising the numerous Unionists in Scotland. It would do nothing to increase the prospect of Scottish independence but would seriously damage the SNP’s reputation as well as providing David Cameron with an excuse to fast-track his English Votes for English Laws plans. These plans could seriously diminish the ability of Scottish MPs to influence debates which genuinely could affect Scotland because rushed legislation on such a complex constitutional matter will inevitably be flawed.

All things considered, the SNP should sit down on whichever seats they can grab and abstain from the fox hunting vote. It’s a shame for the foxes but there are people in Scotland who need the SNP to fight against the Austerity measures the Tories wish to impose and that is a far more important and difficult task.