When I wrote for this publication at the end of January, after the UK Tory government had signalled its intent to block the Gender Recognition Bill, there was a near inevitability that it would lead to further attempts to undermine devolution in the months to come.

Despite all the protestations of the Tories at Westminster, and their MSP colleagues who are obviously happy playing these damaging opportunist games, the use in that case of a Section 35 order to block a devolved act of the Scottish Parliament constituted a serious attack on devolution as well as democracy itself.

And now it has come to pass; with this latest attack on Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, we have a clear series of examples of political decisions that shine a light on Westminster’s contempt for devolution and the Scottish Parliament.

The fact is that the Scottish Tories had previously championed the inclusion of glass in the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme, but are now backtracking. This is because their UK Government colleagues decided that glass won’t form part of any deposit return system in England, and so Scotland cannot have glass as part of its system.

After all, the scheme has worked well in pilot form in Orkney, which I was delighted to see for myself at Restart Orkney last month. While there have been issues to iron out, it was progressing towards a March 2024 launch – until this past weekend anyway.

But the Tories don’t appear to care that these decisions of a devolved administration are set to have a positive impact – they appear to take a degree of joy out of these damaging interventions.

Back in January, when the Tories burst the celebratory balloon that had gone up with the passing of the Gender Recognition Bill before Christmas, it was clear that the legislation couldn’t and wouldn’t affect the Equality Act. The UK Government knew what it is doing with its political stance.

In the same way as the Deposit Return Scheme had cross-party support, the Gender Recognition Bill was a cross-party bill with amendments from across the parties. MSPs from every single party voted for it, giving it a two-thirds majority, merely highlighting the political nature of the UK Tory move.

The truth is that these two examples of the UK Government in action are merely the latest in a long line of anti-democratic actions by increasingly desperate Tories.

Past examples we have seen include challenges to Holyrood legislation on Brexit, to the incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and – the biggest anti-democratic stance of the lot – the continuing denial of a democratic vote on Scotland’s future, which a majority of MSPs were elected to deliver, and for which the SNP has multiple mandates.

It makes the SNP’s decision to hold a one-day independence convention in Dundee in late June all the more timely.

We need to hear voices from across Scotland as we debate how to secure our future as a normal, self-governing country, so I hope that members from Orkney will be part of this crucial event.

This is a regular column by Emma Roddick, SNP. All Highlands and Islands Regional MSPs have been offered the same space in The Orkney News to share their personal views.

‘Through a Glass Darkly’ – Is Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme Scuppered?