Midlothian South candidates: Michael James Banks, Vangaurd Party - Scottish Parliament elections 2021

Michael Banks is a retired barrister and and has lived in the Scottish Borders for 20 years.
Stock photo. No photo received from Michael Banks, Scottish Vanguard Party.Stock photo. No photo received from Michael Banks, Scottish Vanguard Party.
Stock photo. No photo received from Michael Banks, Scottish Vanguard Party.

Vanguard Party champions the Union and Brexit. The UK, four Nations in Union, will prosper as an independent country, outwith the EU. If Scotland were to leave the Union and join the EU, it would not be an independent country. It would be a rule-taker from Brussels. There would be a hard border with the rest of the UK. Funding via the Barnett formula would end. Scots would lose British citizenship.

Scotland’s future should be decided by the people, not the courts. However, independence is not practical without the support of a simple majority (50 per cent + 1) of the registered electorate, not merely a simple majority of valid votes. IndyRef2 must require a simple majority of the registered electorate of the whole of Scotland, for the whole of Scotland to leave. In 2014 only 38 per cent of the registered electorate of the whole of Scotland voted for independence.

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Vanguard Party will preserve the distinction between sex and gender. It will protect women’s rights to same-sex spaces. It will oppose self-identification. It will oppose any denial of biological truth. It will champion children of disadvantaged backgrounds by providing help and support to raise attainment. It will not promote quotas and targets that may excuse lower attainment.

It will champion the NHS. It will recognise the true worth of its staff, tackle hospital waiting lists and support GPs to resume face-to-face appointments for all. It will abolish hate crime including incitement of hatred in people’s minds. It will champion traditional values and culture and take back control of British institutions and push back against the tyranny of woke.