THE SNP said it is looking to defeat the Tories in key votes as the House of Commons gets down to business this week.

 

The new parliament at Westminster gets under way this week with the Queen's Speech and debates on key election issues.

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon said the SNP MPs would oppose plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, demand more powers in the Scotland Act and stop the renewal of Trident.

Following the Queens Speech on Wednesday, there will be a debate on Trident and another on zero hours contracts.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond will lead the debate on Trident on Thursday where he will raise concerns of Seaman William McNeilly about the safety of Trident on the Clyde.

Ms Sturgeon said the Human Rights act was crucial in fighting austerity and she would seek to block any attempts to repeal it

She said: ""The SNP's priority is ending austerity, and the damage it does to people's lives - the Tory government's priority is ending human rights, and the opportunities for fairness they offer ordinary men and women. For example, it was the Human Rights Act that enabled people to go to court in this country to challenge the grossly unfair bedroom tax.

"To scrap the Human Rights Act would be an appallingly retrograde step.

Ms Sturgeon said she expected the Scotland Act due this week to address concerns of the Scottish Government and the Holyrood Devolution Committee on more powers.

She said: "It is an early test of the UK Government's good faith that the Scotland Bill lives up to both the spirit and the letter of the Smith Commission. The Scottish Government has already set out the shortcomings of the draft legislation published in January, and submitted a number of detailed amendments to the UK Government to bring their original proposals into line with Smith, so there can be no possible excuse."

The Trident debate will be the first where the new SNP MPs get the opportunity to raise concerns voiced during the election campaign.

Mr Salmond said: "Trident is a key issue for people in Scotland. It is bad enough that Scotland is forced to house these weapons of mass destruction but these alleged breaches of security are deeply worrying - there must be absolutely no complacency."