The NHS in Scotland is a political football, scarcely a week goes by without Douglas Ross or Anas Sarwar mounting an opportunistic attack upon NHS Scotland even though the NHS services in England and Wales, which are run by the Conservatives and by Labour respectively, consistently performing more poorly than NHS Scotland. This week in England junior doctors are taking unprecedented strike action leading to the NHS Confederation warn that up to 250,000 medical appointments and operations could be postponed. The four days of strikes are due to begin on Tuesday after the end of the Easter bank holiday.
The British Medical Association, which represents doctors and medical students, has said the strikes could still be avoided if the Conservative government makes a credible pay offer, something it has refused to do, claiming that there is not enough money, although the Tories managed to find the money in Jeremy Hunt’s recent budget to give a lucrative tax break to the richest pensioners. The Tory health minister Steve Barclay, is refusing to meet with the BMA until the strikes are called off. Dr Mike Greenhalgh, a deputy chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told BBC One’s Breakfast: “It’s hard to negotiate when only one side is doing it and we’re not getting anything back from the government.”
Scotland is not affected by this week’s junior doctors’ strike,and although junior doctors in Scotland are currently balloting on strike action, relations between the Scottish Government and the BMA have not broken down to the extent that they have broken down in England, so it is still possible that strike action in Scotland will be averted.
With so much bad news about the NHS dominating the headlines you could be forgiven for thinking it’s all doom and gloom. As regular readers of this blog might be aware, my mum, Martha Mosson was recently diagnosed with a cancerous lesion in her left eye, which required surgery to remove the affected eye. Although she is still recovering from her operation, feeling weak and nauseous from the pain killing medication she is on, and is coming to terms with the fact that she has just had a major operation and now only has one eye, she insisted that I write this piece. And of course you can’t say no to yer maw. My mum is 83 and although she has been dogged by health issues, the woman is a force of nature. So this piece is far more important than anything else that might be happening right now. It’s for my mum.
My mum has two reasons for wanting this to be published, the first is because she wants to thank all the NHS staff involved with her care, who at all times treated her with the utmost professionalism, care, and compassion and ensured that she received all the necessary procedures and interventions promptly and without undue delay but also because she wants to reassure anyone else who has the misfortune to receive a similar diagnosis that they too can be sure that they will receive the similar high standard of care that she did. Even now, just days after a major life altering operation, she’s thinking of others.
Getting that reassurance is vital because receiving a diagnosis of cancer is terrifying, both for the patient and for their loved ones. The last thing that’s needed is to have to worry about whether the NHS is going to give you the proper care and treatment that you need, in sufficient time to ensure that the cancer can be treated successfully. So my mum wants people to know that if her experience is anything to go by, they will. She added, and was most insistent that I put this line in : “That Douglas Ross is an arse.” This comes directly from the mouth of an 83 year old retired deputy headmistress of a Catholic primary school.
My mum’s cancer was discovered when she was admitted to hospital for an unrelated condition. She has suffered from recurrent debilitating bouts of severe dizziness for some time and additionally is being treated for macular degeneration. In February she experienced an especially bad bout of dizziness which badly affected her balance and left her very nauseous and she was admitted to the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow. There it was discovered that the dizzy spells were due to Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which is caused by tiny crystals of calcium carbonate crystals becoming dislodged and entering one of the canals in the inner ear. A simple procedure was able to treat this successfully and she has had no further problems with it.
However when on the ward the eye specialist treating her macular degeneration wanted her to have a scan of her eyes in order to ensure that visual problems were not contributing to her dizziness and nausea. The scan revealed a lesion at the back of her left eye which required further investigation. To cut a long story short, the surgical team soon determined that it was a malignant tumour. Unfortunately as the lesion was situated right next to the optic nerve it was not possible to treat it with laser, which could have saved the eye. The only possible treatment was to remove it surgically, which necessitated the removal of the entire eye. Her main concern was whether she would still be able to drive, and was greatly relieved to learn that she can. Only six weeks elapsed between the discovery of the cancerous lesion and the operation to remove it, a timescale which is not at all atypical in NHS Scotland, despite the hysterical scaremongering of the likes of Douglas Ross, whose party presides over the meltdown we currently see in the NHS in England.
For a while we were not sure if the surgeon would have to remove part of the eye socket as well as the eye itself, which would have been even more disfiguring. Thankfully that has proven not to be necessary. The operation took place a week ago and my mum is now home. There was the possibility that during the operation to remove the affected eye the surgeon could insert a prosthetic eye and attach it to the existing muscle. This prosthetic eye would have moved naturally along with my mum’s remaining eye, but unfortunately some muscle tissue had to be removed so this was not possible. The operation was carried out last week at Gartnavel hospital in Glasgow. The surgeon is confident that they caught the cancer early and removed it before it spread. My mum wants to thank all the staff on ward 1C for their care and attention.
My mum has been told that when the wound heals she will be fitted with a glass eye which will match her good eye, so the aesthetic impact of the operation will be limited. In the meantime she will have to wear an eye patch, much to the delight of her four year old great-grandson, who thinks his great-granny is a pirate now.
My mum is still very tender and sore, she’s not as young as she used to be and recovering from this operation is going to take time, but thanks to the prompt intervention of NHS Scotland, time is what she has, and she will be with us for a good few years yet. Sadly she is not recovering as quickly as she’d have liked and is suffering from dreadful nausea, severe headaches and an upset stomach, although she’s putting the same brave face on things that she has always done. She’s never tolerated general anaesthetics well and it’s going to take some time for it to clear out of her system. She is still very poorly, and all the family are worried about her, but she is a determined and stubborn woman who has set her mind on getting back to normal and living life to the full. If anyone can do it, she can. Thank you NHS Scotland, for ensuring my mum will still be around.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female and commented:
Speedy recovery, Mrs. Mosson.
Great news Paul and good to hear your mum is as fiesty as yourself. The Scottish Health Service is a terrific national asset and it is so depressing that unionists constantly try to run it down. They have their agenda. So your mum’s story is very encouraging.
Mrs Dr Jim underwent cataract surgery on her right eye just over a week ago at the Jubilee Hospital and already she can see clearly in that eye without glasses, with the left scheduled in a couple of months time which will leave her needing only reading glasses in the future
In the future planned private medicine world of the English political parties this will cost many thousand of £pounds and will be unnafordable to most
This is a fight for our NHS that our young people need to take up, as one day those young people will be us
Best wishes to your Mum and all our Mums and Dads of that generation, many of whom began life without a NHS so appreciate what we need to keep hold of
Good news for your mum, you and the wider family who would be worried about her.
NHS Scotland is precious for so many reasons.
Remember when Labour was going to close Monklands, Vale of Leven, Hairmyres and more. Labour saw the dismantling of NHS Argyll and Clyde to the detriment of patients in Inverclyde and Argyll and with the tories oversaw the scandal of infected bloods, Jimmy Saville, molesting nhs patients and the rest.
Worth reminding because bbc England at Pacific Quay won’t.
All best wishes to your mum. I can see where you get your spirit from.
Thank you for sharing.
Sending you mum our very best wishes.
She is certainly right about D Ross!
Our kindest regards to all family and friends.
Susan and Calvin.
Pleased to hear that the op was successful, wishing your Mum a speedy recovery. So much doom and gloom output by the MSM daily that a good news story like this should be shared far and wide so our NHS staff can see that us mere mortals hold them in great stead. Been through a couple of eye ops myself and only have praise for the way I’ve been treated.
Wishing your mum all the best, and it sounds like she has the determination and faith to heal and cope well!
Best wishes to your Mum for her recovery. NHS Scotland is a lot better than opposition parties and their media allies will ever admit.
Best wishes to your ma for a rapid and full recovery.
As anyone who has had treatment by the NHS here knows full well, the reality differs greatly from the malign Mitigation Hell scare stories spun by the Doom & Gloom Bros Sarwar and DRoss. I salute her for being so determined, in the midst of her current difficulties, to bear witness against their mischief from her own personal experience.
Thanks Mrs Mosson and Paul for this post, and best wishes to you and your family.
It causes a wry smile when I see our various unionist protagonists claim that what happens in Scotland stays in Scotland. That the SNP are terrible and that a mollusc under sedation (aka Douglas Ross) could manage things better. If course the moment there is a single metric that is fractionally better somewhere else in the UK then this is trumpeted from the Heavens. This cognitive dissonance assumes that the Scottish electorate read nothing, hear nothing and understand nothing.
It is what is known as a long shot and has failed the Unionist parties as a strategy for 16 years. Plan B is as ever is to attempt to smear wildly and frequently.
Of course the Scottish NHS could be better, it likely will always be the case because expectations are always unlimited.
It seems that even the “mollusc under sedation” now realises that the “Scottish” Tories are a lost cause and it’s their partner in the Buggins Cartel who now has to save the union, with (not) a little help from its (media) friends. Reputational damage is most definitely the current “name of the game”.
But relentless misery is all that any member of Bitter Together has to offer, nothing positive, constructive or hopeful. The “added value” on offer is negative, so how can they possibly not keep on losing? That’s long been evident to many ordinary voters, and becoming increasingly so to the rest.
The Bugginses’ only strategy seems to be to diminish the pro-indy hold on Holyrood just enough to prevent it from functioning effectively, yet not succeed so well – as if! – that they actually have to shoulder the onerous responsibilities of government themselves, and thereby risk being exposed for the hollow pretenders that they truly are.
Take care WGD and also your mother.
As others, best wishes for your mum, but oh my that article was from the heart.
– Not just from your POV as a loving son, or your mum conveying sense of loss of an eye, but her profound gratitude for the childhood experience of the post-war NHS surviving long enough in Scotland to bring her the necessary care 77 years later.
The dogmatic hatred from the Tory hierarchy for the NHS was always there, yet it was Labour’s shift to being more appealing as pseudo Tories which sounded the death knell of the NHS as an institution.
Labour were no longer defending a ground-breaking healthcare system created by one of their own, borne out of the ravages of war by a nation on its financial knees, the “how can we pay for it” fairy was dragged out at every opportunity despite the sheer hypocrisy of it compared to WW2 Britain.
Many thanks to Martha for speaking up and yourself for conveying it – The side effects of losing one eye will pass soon enough, but should she throw up at the sight of Baillie or Gulhane, rest assured that is normal….
My 83 year old husband is being cared for by the marvellous Scottish NHS too…and agrees with your mum!!
When they find something they move fast…far better treatment than his cousin’s down in Ingerland…..and are much more pro active on testing..a real time and money saver
“That Douglas Ross is an arse”
A thousand words could not add to your mums wisdom in this statement & lived experience of the SNHS, in an emergency situation
Many people who have accessed the SNHS since the pandemic would echo your experience of the service
I wish you a speedy recovery!
Best wishes to your mum.
A close relative of mine had a ‘cancer’ diagnosis recently. Like your mum, my relative received prompt treatment, in her case, at Hairmyres and Wishaw. Staff from Consultant to Cleaner were invariably caring and compassionate. I cannot fault them. Like you, I hate to hear the usual suspects indulging in their stupid ‘hysterical scaremongering’. I wish they would stop.
My family and I have been using NHS Borders / the Borders General (Melrose) for 16 years now and I can honestly say I’ve not a single complaint. Thankfully we are all in good health, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need it. We can get a GP appointment that day most of the time if we say it’s pressing. And e.g. a few hours wait at A&E when I did my knee tendon in running was hardly arduous.
All the best to you and mum Paul!
I see the football referee at the old firm and family has been the subject of abuse and threats.
I am pleased to report that Police Scotland has sufficient resources to investigate the perpetrators and bring them to justice. They will be easy to spot with tents outside and 15-20 police standing outside wondering what’s going on.
“The excitement of the investigation headed by PC McPlod is now becoming intents, with our gallant boys in blue canvassing opinion from the MSM how they should proceed with their enquiries.”
And with that, this is Guy Rope, returning you to the studio.
– That’s enough camp jokes involving tents. [Ed.]
I think Hamish had it pegged…
You can’t run down Sturgeon’s street. You can only ‘ran’…Why?
It’s past tents.
The police are loitering within tent. Disgrace.
Oh, no! What have I started?
You’ll just have to canvas(s) opinion about that!
No need to get in a flap.
Ach … it’s only the pole polis.
The SNHS saving lives everyday. Wonderful.
The Tories have increased Defence funding £5Billions. It should have been funding the NHS.
Paul, your Mum’s ”Thank You ! ” to the Scottish NHS is in sad contrast to the daily denigration of our health service and the dedicated staff who maintain it by the BBC , the Tories , the Labour Party ( sic ) etc…
When challenged , they will claim to support the NHS and its staff , but they see our Health Service simply as collateral damage in their perpetual and petty attempts to attack the Scottish Government /SNP .
Your mum speaks for the countless thousands who every week are helped by the Scottish NHS but whose voices are never heard by our disgraceful media – who only amplify the shrill complaints of DRoss and Sarwar as they put personal political ambition before the concerns of the many .
Your mum is to be applauded for her bravery and resilience – as are you in your commendable efforts to keep the unionist doom-mongers at bay .
Over the last six years, I’ve been treated exceptionally well, by SNHS, for two separate serious conditions (cancer and a thrombosis) – and got first class treatment at both Edinburgh Western and Hairmyres – together with ongoing hospital CT scan checkups.
Perhaps if all of us were to send emails, detailing our good experiences, to Dross and Starwars they could maybe balance their weekly diatribes – but I wont hold my breath.
Paul, tell your Mum I feel exactly as she does about Dross, and give her my best wishes. You are some man to be able to keep on producing this blog, given all your own medical problems as well. Respect.
Great news and braw comment by yer Ma on the Moray Eel
Sorry to read about your mum. I hope she gets better soon.
💐
Best Wishes to your mum Paul for a speedy recovery and great she called out Dross for what he truly is
So glad to hear “pirate great granny” is recovering and well enough to help you write this blog.
The SNHS were caring, kind and compasionate with my mum in her last few hours before she died at the age of 93 last year.
And they saved my life in a tiny rural hospital, many years ago.
So yes I hate it when I hear the likes of DRoss etc are so negative
Just a wee observation on our SNHS.
I was given an urgent MRI scan, all in a day.
Turned up at lunchtime as requested.
The Staff asked if I had had some lunch as they knew the cafe hadn’t opened and I wouldn’t be able to get some.
Result was that I was treated to some and a cuppa. and joined in the chat after the scan.
what a brilliant group who would take nothing other than hope I would take good care. Helpful, caring and professional with a bit of banter.
I tried to get onto the hospital to thank all, what did I find on their site, all set up for complaints, same as the rail company’s, no room for compliments.
I’m glad to hear that your mum’s operation was a success, she sounds like a real battler so here’s hoping her fighting spirit helps her get back to full strength soon.
Best wishes
The NHS performance and outcomes are dependent on far more than NHS funding and management itself. Social care has a massive impact on discharging patients from hospital. Poverty levels and health outcomes are inextricably linked. Brexit has had an enormous impact on staffing. I could go on with other examples but the point I am making is all NHS are not only dependent on devolved governments policies but central government policies.
Speaking as a former NHS employee all my colleagues were all aware that performance can always improve and trying to do that was a part of the job. However I would caution everyone to beware of politicians slagging NHS off and claiming other methods of healthcare provision would be superior. Once the NHS is gone it is gone forever.
[…] Source […]
Does the sacking of the CBI boss for misconduct / associated investigation by the police mean the UK is over?
Thanks.
Oh, I do hope so 🙂
All the very best of warm and healthy wishes to yer maw Paul.
She’s clinched the best words dedicated forever to this particular Scottish tory leader arse.
Well said 👏🏼👏👏🏽👏🏿👏🏾👏🏻😁
I read Richard Murphy’s excellent “The junior doctor’s pay dispute is existential” article yesterday and briefly pondered why England’s public are not up in arms about it, until the penny dropped that MSM had convinced them there was nothing to fear over privatisation, and “independent pay review” bodies ensured salaries were “independently” assessed. 🤣
The knock-on effects to Scotland of the Tory etc strategy for England even ignoring the Brexit effects are fairly obvious, fewer willing to take the financial risk, and strangled funding to SG will equally translate to shortages in all medical categories.
Do any recall a single instance when a “Disclosure” special or a ‘think-twonk’ or Medical Union rep (Buist) or opposition voice (Tsunami Baillie or Disaster Gulhane) ever featured on an HMS James Cook et al piece raising concerns over HMG policy damaging the very fabric of the NHS ?
No me neither.
Yet it was this RM piece today which really hammered home the UKOK change in condition for the public over ONLY ONE YEAR which made my eyes pop https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/04/11/the-cost-of-living-crisis-is-now-seriously-reducing-peoples-financial-resilience/
Some saw this coming over 50 years ago, knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing was never going to end well.
Today’s politically “responsible” switch between red and blue ties and nobody notices, the message is the same, the public have become numbed, except north of the border.
Somebody needs to create a bright yellow Thistle, then leave them to stick in various vacant orifices…. Jackie, Anas, Douglas and Stephen are fairly obvious candidates, also the BBC’s Cames (like the suit?) Jook, Lonesome Shitehawk Campbell, Lazy Winters, Call me Kay with an’E’, Martin Guiser, but the tailor’s dummy probably would probably demand more spikes…
Grim. I voted “angry” but that wasn’t a very common reaction – yet.
I too have much to thank the NHS for. I was diagnosed with Endometrial Cancer. Once discovered the system carried me along with examinations scans blood tests . I had a big operation then chemotherapy and met many wonderful people along the way including building relationships with district nurses which took some of the fear away. The treatment ended with a round of radio therapy. I am nearing my next oncology appointment which raises fears. Meanwhile I am just filled with gratitude and welcome each day very much alive. My enduring thanks to the NHS in Scotland …. for the life I have now.
Good luck Marybel
Well said and the best of luck.
But, like tents, campervans, ferries n stuff!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65240749
UK to be one of worst performing economies this year, predicts IMF
The UK is set to be one of the worst performing major economies in the world this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It says the UK economy’s performance in 2023 will be the worst among the 20 biggest economies, known as the G20, which includes sanctions-hit Russia.
Aye, if there’s a time to rally round, it’s now.
https://archive.is/XZK8q
Kate Forbes writes plea to SNP members urging them not to quit
…And so my plea to fellow members is this: Stay the course. As gale-force winds batter the ship, this is a call for all hands on deck. If you are a party member thinking of resigning, please don’t. If you’re scunnered at what’s unfolding, please stay. If you’ve recently left the party, as 50,000 people reportedly have in recent years, think of re-joining.
If we want to win independence, we need you
Not because we want to make the SNP great, or to bask in electoral success, or because recent events are irrelevant. No, it is because this party’s historic success was secured by ordinary members doing extraordinary things in every part of the country. And the most extraordinary thing of them all must be to win independence. To do that, we need you…
Much as I like Kate Forbes my answer will be no I will not rejoin the party only to ask the English government for something that should my inalienable right to have
I will not invest my money in any political party that cannot achieve the aim of democracy by accepting another countries claim to legal refusal of my right to that democracy
I will never vote for the Scottish branches of the English political parties, no matter what they pretend to call themselves, so I will still vote SNP at every available opportunity in my small way to protect Scotland from the ravages that will occur if we don’t
If however we are going to take Scotland’s rights from the English government by affirmative international legal action or other, then sign me up and my cash will be forthcoming
Until that time I will expend my energy ensuring that every person I meet who does not support Scotland’s rights feel uncomfortable unwelcome and unwanted
That’s not to say I’ll go around being obnoxious to everyone I meet, just those who bring the subject up, then hell mend them for the attitude they’re going to get in return for their intransigent abhorrant undemocratic dictatorial position
For clarity, my thoughts on rallying round were more general. ‘Let’s not fall into the unionist trap of arguing with each other and get our eyes back on the prize’ sort of thing.
I personally see myself as member of my local SNP branch and it’s them I’m supporting. Also my local MSP who I’d struggle to fault. So I’m happy to stick with my membership. I was also glad to read this from Forbes who I do like a lot.
Coming back to ‘fighting with each other’… it’s interesting to see how we’ve kindae stopped that under the current British media polis tent assault and turn the anger back to where it should be directed.
But then we Scots have always done that. Fought amongst ourselves until the English stormed over the border. Then we united and kicked them out so we could get back to fighting amongst ourselves again. 🙂
The definition of a family right there
England are the neighbours from hell
Well said, faint hearts never won anyone independence. Something that doesn’t exist, british law, seems to be the stumbling block.
Exactly. I would love to see a case about Indy go to International courts but I can see no mechanism for us to do that at present. Kate’s article was interesting although it contained a couple of points I don’t entirely agree with. Unfortunately the BTL comments on the article have a fair amount of the bat shit crazies one of whom even suggested the Snp needs to have a careerist finder general. Anyone new to thinking about Indy would not have impressed by that sort of stuff
The easiest and fastest way to get our predicament examined by the international community is to fight a general election on a simple question, permission from the people of Scotland to withdraw from the 1707 Treaty of Union because there isn’t lawful domestic legislation nor international prohibition which prevents a signatory to Treaty from withdrawing from a Treaty of they wish to do so.
In fairness if we quit would you go to ALBA- hell would freeze over first or the Greens.
SNP it seems will get my vote but probably not my renewal. Still I have some time to rethink the latter. I think Russell should stand down. His time is up.
So to be positive
Conference
Make Westminster Indy ref 2.
I’ve already resigned. I’m going to watch and wait. If they clean up the NEC, drop the vote losing policies and focus on independence then I will certainly vote for them. I would vote for independence anyway should the opportunity arise.
Can someone explain to me as a new Snp member what the role of the NEC actually is and how it differs from the past. From my point of view it sounds like a glorified union stewards committee and some members of it seem to like talking to English newspapers per this article in the National https://www.thenational.scot/news/23449378.snp-warns-electoral-commission-difficulty-finding-new-auditors/
So they have been searching for new auditers for months. It says a lot about auditing companies that they have not been able to find one.I can understand why it was not made public even to the NEC as no doubt the media would have got to know about it
The National has a list of the post holders from the 2021 elections to the NEC. It is supposed to be the main decision making body similar to the board of a company or organisation. However, Tim Rideout says in the btl comments that the FM had a staff of 150 who did not pay much attention to the members or Conference.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19750031.full-list-winners-snps-internal-elections/
As a member you should be ale to find the current members and positions on the SNP website.
See also this P&J report on the 2020 NEC elections. There was much hope that the new faces – Joanna Cherry, Doug Chapman and Chris Hanlon and others, would steer the policy to a more campaigning mode. But this didn’t happen and some resigned.
https://archive.fo/9L6FP
I suppose the quandary is if labour- god forbid, ever got back in then there won’t be a referendum just a Brexit and unionism in Scotland once again.
Still I would watch all the so called careerists jump ship to labour from ALBA and the snp devolutionist light one and all.
The Scottish Health Service teams at Gartnavel/Beatson has saved me twice from what would have almost certainly have been a long and uncomfortable death (I’m pretty sure there is never a comfortable/peaceful one), I have nothing but admiration for them. Clever people I was glad to meet but still wish I had never had to.
I’m not sure how de-funding the SNP is going to win independence, the unionist are going to throw everything at the next election to defeat them. If we allow the unionist to take control of Holyrood then I expect them to pass legislation to make independence near impossible, possibly even illegal. I actually made an extra donation after the shenanigans they have unleashed recently.
I would be happy if they did not take their seats at Westminster after the next election, as long as that is in their manifesto. Nothing could demonstrate Scotland’s position better than no representatives there, it would be the ultimate display of Scotland’s powerless position within the UK.
Maybe if more people in Scotland understood that whoever is our FM he/she is barely more important than the Mayor of somewhere in the north of England Andy Burnham they might begin to take things a bit more seriously
my love, my families love to your ma, good health Mrs M.
Conservatives, Labour and LibDem’s (Scotland) feeling smug about the auditors story, they know they can never be held to account on this as they do not actually exist in reality so why would they need auditors. They are all controlled from England.
Just imagine if almost 50% of English MP’s were financed by foreign countries. Of course they could already be as the Tories seem to be awash with Russian money, but their compliant media has no real interest in this. Why would they as these media outlets are kept from going under by the current government.
I would love to know where the money is coming from to keep the Herald afloat. It certainly is not from it’s sales / circulation.
I wonder why they have stopped “revealing” their circulation figures 🙂
Well this is all a bit embarrassing. So much for #campervangate.
You have to admit jumping from hotel to hotel during covid would have been a nightmare. Just going somewhere for the weekend was a big enough hassle, never mind a whistlestop tour of the country.
https://archive.is/yKCDE
SNP motorhome ‘seized by police’ was to be Holyrood election campaign battle bus
EXCLUSIVE: A party source said the vehicle was never used after covid restrictions were lifted in 2021…
…A local claimed the vehicle had not been moved since it was delivered in January 2021.
In the National too:
https://archive.is/DOKNM
I don’t understand why the police needed to “seize it” (other than to have a wee shot of it). Surely all they needed to do was check it was where the SNP said it was and take a note of the details. It isn’t like it was used to heist a bank and if some of the £600 was used to purchase it as a campaign bus then it is there and available to do that very thing and isn’t “missing”.
If only they’d had to chase PM down the motorway in said campervan with ‘all units’…Sturgeon riding shotgun as it careers through traffic… her securing herself with a tartan scarf before opening the back door to dump a trail of SNP balloons / t-shirts to try and throw the polis off as they raced towards Gretna and the safety of the border.
Now that would be news!
Probably wanted to scan it with xrays for money hidden behind panels or in the fuel tank. I have relatives who work for police but the way searches were done about this last week is an embarassment for PS
This is positively oozing with the jealous bitterness of the jilted.
https://archive.is/M2PUY
‘BBC? I’m Irish!’ 🙂
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65246488
Joe Biden’s blink and you’ll miss it visit to Northern Ireland
It would have been odd if President Biden had come here and not been met by the prime minister.
But we won’t see very much of them together beyond a handshake at the airport and a meeting on Wednesday morning.
Rishi Sunak won’t be at President Biden’s speech.
And the president will be in Northern Ireland for only around 15 hours, for around half of which he’ll be in bed.
After that, Joe Biden’s much talked about Irish heritage will draw him to the Republic.
A mix of family history and made-for-television imagery the year before a presidential election.
As my colleague Sarah Smith writes here, with 30 million Americans claiming Irish roots, the personal and the political will overlap for him rather neatly in the next few days.
We can see which country actually has the ‘special relationship’.
BBC repeating that Geoffrey Donaldson is a devolutionist!
The guy who wants to be governed by Brit land in London. Is he Irish? British? English? Or just someone who refused to accept he lost an election.
A bit like tories and labour really. My way or no way.
🏴
Geoffrey Donaldson and people like him in Scotland should look up the definition of the word devolution in its application to them from England
So the Government is to challenge the unelected governer general over the right of the Parliament to make law in Scotland.
Good.
My thoughts entirely
The fact of the matter is that English elected governments decide what happens within the other nations of the British Isles
This court case,if nothing else,will demonstrate that to those deluded souls who think Scotland is in any sort of voluntary union with England.
Biden’s speech about NI governments being democratically accountable to the people of NI rings hollow when you see the reality of Westminster’s idea of devolved governance.
London rules.
Excellent news. I have no issue with foreign politicians taking an interest in my country and its people, but not when they start to think they “have a right” to meddle in our affairs.
Seeking judicial review is the right decision in my opinion. The action of the Westminster government to block legislation on a devolved matter requires formal, legal review as a matter of principle. However, it is perhaps EVEN more important when the form of intervention is so exceptional and when the legislation in question (i) has been passed by a large, cross party majority in Holyrood; (ii) after a lengthy period of public consultation; (iii) two stages of parliamentary committee-led evidence gathering/inquiry; (iv) extensive parliamentary debate; and (v) the passing of a series of amendments to the Bill.
There are also notable parts of Scottish civil society that have expressed support for this currently blocked legislation. Their clearly stated position on the legislation, reproduced below, further justifies – if further reason is necessary – seeking formal review.
‘A statement from Scottish civil society organisations on the UK Government’s intervention on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill – POSTED ON JANUARY 17 2023.
‘This week, the UK government announced their intention to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was recently passed overwhelmingly in the Scottish Parliament, from becoming law. We, the undersigned, wish to make clear our strong opposition to this intervention and to any suggestion that these reforms would have an adverse effect on the Equality Act or women’s rights.
‘Too much of the debate around the Bill has been shaped by misinformation on what the bill will actually mean in practice. The majority of human rights, women’s and equalities organisations in Scotland have shown clear, consistent and unified support for this legislation throughout its seven years in development.
‘Years of detailed analysis by expert organisations in Scotland has considered the impact of the Bill in detail. This work has shown that the legislation will significantly improve the experiences of trans people, protecting them from the harms of a stigmatising and unnecessarily difficult process to access legal paperwork, while having no impact on women’s services, the operation of the Equality Act, or single sex spaces. These findings have been echoed by the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s own indepth considerations of the Bill.
‘Specifically, the Equality Act has allowed for protection from discrimination of trans people on the basis of self-identification since its passage into law in 2010. This was the case before the Gender Recognition Reform Bill and will be the case after. Contrary to arguments made during the passage of the Scottish Bill, this legislation makes no changes to whether and when trans women can access women’s spaces. If it is legitimate and proportionate, trans women can already be excluded from single sex services irrespective of whether they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) or not.
‘The legislation will have no impact on the experience or requirements of rape victims in court.
‘Violence Against Women (VAW) services in Scotland already operate on the basis of self-ID. Individuals are not required to provide their birth certificates to access services, something that would be hugely harmful. Instead, services have robust safeguarding processes that allow for individuals to be excluded where there are legitimate concerns. Rape crisis services in Scotland have been providing trans inclusive services for 15 years without incident.
‘It is demoralising to see how trusted and highly experienced experts on equality and providers of services to women — many of whom have provided world-leading services in Scotland for decades — have been drowned out in this debate and denigrated for standing against misinformation.
‘There are currently a number of very real threats to women’s rights in Scotland and the UK including but not limited to poverty, the cost of living crisis, cuts to services, rape conviction rates and the experiences of immigrant and refugee women. We find it particularly concerning that so much political and media attention has been devoted to the debate around this Bill in place of tackling these genuine barriers to women’s equality.
‘Trans people across Scotland have endured seven years of being dangerously misrepresented in public discourse. We are deeply concerned about the impact of misinformation around what this Bill actually does, and the perception that it creates that women’s rights and the rights of trans people are in conflict. They are not.
‘Our organisations see the paths to equality for women and trans people as being deeply interconnected and dependent on our shared efforts to dismantle patriarchal systems that impose barriers to full equality for us all.
‘Signed: Amnesty International, Back Off Scotland, Close the Gap, Crew, Engender
Glasgow Women’s Library, Human Rights Consortium, JustRight Scotland
National Union of Students Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland
Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Refugee Council, Scottish Women’s Aid, Scottish Women’s Convention
Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, Young Women’s Movement, Zero Tolerance
Source https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/news/news/a-statement-from-scottish-civil-society-organisations-on-the-uk-governments-intervention-o/
(The above statement is, arguably, one which has been unheard/unseen by voters who rely on corporate media and BBC news organisations largely antithetical to the Scottish Government.)
Then there is this from Lord Falconer who was involved in the GRA 2004.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/gender-recognition-reform-bill-tories-have-picked-a-political-fight-with-snp-over-changes-they-once-supported-charlie-falconer-3999402
May I also say that from what I saw tonight on BBC News, BBC Reporting Scitland and Ch4 News that Shirley-Anne Somerville really stood up under pretty strong questioning which shows the FM has strong and able support in his team.
Thanks for the link to Falconer’s piece – in The Scotsman no less! I had missed this completely, despite an interest in the same topic and addressing it at length elsewhere:
‘The “screeching change of direction” – the forgotten Westminster history on gender recognition reform’
(https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2023/01/19/the-screeching-change-of-direction-the-forgotten-westminster-history-on-gender-recognition-reform/)
The Tory case for gender recognition reform at the time is described here, as set out in its own consultation document. Also described is the provenance of the proposed reforms viz. in a Commons committee; the substantially positive response to the public consultation on the reform proposals; and the negative reaction in Westminster at the time to the Tories’ U-turn initiated only after Boris Johnson replaced Teresa May.
There was no moral panic being created by the Tories and their press allies during May’s term in government, with Penny Mordaunt MP in the leading role as Minister for Women and Equalities. How things change!
I see ex MSP pro brexiters Alex Neil wants “forensic” auditors brought in to the snp.
If only he brought them in to advise him, before spouting off how great Brexit was to be to Scotland.🏴
Now his pals are labour, tories and Lib Dems.
I have noticed a trend with Brexit supporters in Scotland making more and more bizarre comments and convoluted arguments to try and justify support for their Leave choice despite the evidence of it’s harm to Scotland and unpopularity with Scottish electorate.
Scotland loses out through Brexit, compare our prospects with those of Northern Ireland. How anyone takes Neil or Sillars seriously these days is beyond me.
Aren’t the polis doing pretty forensic stuff? they’ve probably even been down the back of Sturgeon’s couch and counted what’s there. That and what was in the copper jar.
Whether or not you agree with the Gender bill it was voted for by a majority of MSP’s from the Lib Dems, Tories, Labour, Green and SNP in the Scots Parliament. If you support a Scots Parliament you should not then back governer general and the tories at Westminster as they are overlords.
If the case wins, we’ll and good. If it loses it may upset a few tories and Albanistsas like Cherry but it shows them up.
I agree in principal that Scottish government should challenge but I sincerely hope their legal advise for doing so is watertight. I supported challenging Section 30 case as it was an ideal way of showing Westminster highhandedness but I was staggered that NS had not got a strategy agreed with party for how to move this forward if the case failed. Indeed I think this lack of strategy was a primary reason for her surprise resignation although the revelations about SNP finances have given me cause to reconsider.
HY’s most important immediate task is to build up his personal support and credibility across SNP voters and electorate in general. This legal challenge is a very high risk strategy as a defeat in case will not have impact of S30 defeat as the Gender Reform bill does not have widespread support across country. If the case is lost I am afraid that rather than being outraged by Westminster the majority of electorate will shrug shoulders and wonder why so much time and money was expended on a reform which, regardless of rights or wrongs, appears to me to be of little relevance to most Scots despite the amount of heat it has generated. I also fear a defeat in a high profile legal case so early in HY’s tenure will adversely affect his credibility, already damaged by KF’s naive attacks during leadership contest, and make his already tricky job, after last few weeks, even more difficult which would benefit no one who believes in the independence cause.
I know many on this site will not agree with my analysis but I think the only way independence can be achieved is by hardheaded thinking rather than unqualified support for policies that could be couterproductive to cause of an independent Scotland.
‘I agree in principal (sic) that Scottish government should challenge but I sincerely hope their legal advise (sic) for doing so is watertight.’
‘Watertight’ is an exceedingly high bar on such legal matters: I suspect if that was always used as the test we would live in a very different, a very much worse society!
I am not a lawyer but based on this one source (below) there are different grounds for Judicial Review. The court will examine the facts of the case to see whether one or more of the following grounds of review applies: illegality, irrationality, procedural impropriety/unfairness.
Source https://www.saunders.co.uk/news/judicial-review-grounds-an-overview/
‘A decision of a public body may be illegal if the decision maker:
– acts outside or beyond its powers, also known as ‘ultra vires’
– misdirects itself in law – for example the decision maker does not understand and apply the law correctly
– exercises a power wrongly or for an improper purpose – a decision must be reached on the basis of the facts of the matter in question.’
‘A decision may be irrational if;
– it is so unreasonable that no reasonable decision maker could have come to the same decision, also known as ‘Wednesbury unreasonableness’ (although a less strict test applies if human rights are at stake)
– the decision-maker takes into account irrelevant matters or fails to consider relevant matters
– if the decision maker acts in bad faith or dishonestly.’
‘A decision may be unfair if the body:
– does not properly observe and comply with its procedural duties- a decision maker must always act fairly
– fails to consult or give reasons for its decision
– shows bias.’
What will the Scottish Government’s case focus on? If this source is right, there’s a lot to go at there!
I am not qualified to discuss legal chances of Scottish Government’s legal challenge,s success.
The politics of this makes me think there is little to gain for HY with this challenge.
If challenge successful majority of electorate will shrug their shoulders and not give HY much credit for winning although I grant it may deter Westminster from issuing any other S35 notices but HY will also get minimal credit for this.
If HY loses I fear he will take a hammering from opponents both within and outwith SNP and independence movement Support from other parties (apart from Green’s) and many within his own party for GR reforms will disappear like snow of a dyke and he will be on his own. NS had built up sufficient credit with electorate to weather the criticism of another legal challenge being defeated but HY does not have this credit in the bank. With apologies to Oscar Wilde most people in Scotland will think that to lose one legal challenge is unfortunate, to lose two challenges will look careless and pointless.
If he had not challenged he could have said that though he disagreed with S35 spending time and money challenging this was not his first priority which is delivering services for public and regalvanising independence movement and support. He could also have pointed out that the S35 demonstrated the shortcomings and limited powers of devolution without mounting the legal challenge.
I fear that this topic will now dominate HY’s first hundred days when he should be on front foot over key issues and a defeat with legal challenge will hole his leadership below the waterline as well as damage SNP support further.
I am afraid by taking this action along with not bringing his opponents in SNP within cabinet HY is making himself a hostage to fortune and showing a lack of political nous.
Legal advice is never watertight. At best, it might resonably be a probability of winning hedged about by lawyerly qualifications.
Which entirely misses the point, though. This is a political action, whose purpose is to wake people up to the fact that we are not our own masters, and the so-called democracy we are currently obliged to endure within the English Empire is a complete fraud. The SG could even lose in court and still come away the clear winners.
It’s always the bigger picture that matters most. It’s the war that needs to be won, not any one skirmish.
That’s exactly what it is, a political action. The question is can the Scottish government make law in devolved areas as it should without “political” interference from Westminster?
That’s the answer we seek, because if the answer according to the courts is that “NO, Westminster will be the ultimate arbiter of what law you are allowed to legislate on” then what exactly is the point of devolution?
Can the Scottish parliament make its own laws or can’t it? We need to know.
Didn’t she support Regan in the leadership election who came in last. My liking for Joanna has diminished greatly in recent years which is a shame. She is like marmite for many folks including many feminists like me.
That was in reply to grizebard at 10.10pm not sure how it ended up above his post
“Albanistas like Cherry”? Where did that come from? Pity that your reasonable starting argument for unity had to be ruined by that casual over-indulgent parting shot. Judging by the recent leadership election, there are nearly as many people in the SNP who agree with her as there are those who don’t. And rubbing salt in the wounds is the diametric opposite of what you’re supposedly preaching.
Alba are superfluous to SNP requirement. Who needs Alba (0 seats) when there is an alliance with the Scottish Greens (8 seats) ?
In the interests of accuracy, shouldn’t it be ‘Forcibly funded by the public through threats of fines / jail’?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65248554
Ah, the so called licence fee again, the legal presumption that every home owns a TV therefore must be sent a demanding letter for payment of said licence for a TV that may or may not exist within that home
What? no demand for a driving licence, dog licence, gun licence, licence to practice medicine? and the list goes on
If the BBC itself were a licenced debt collector (which it’s not) and recieved every penny of aforementioned lecence fee then they could dispute the fact that they are not government funded, but they don’t recieve evey penny do they, they recieve a paid settlement by the English British government exactly in the same way as every other *service* like the NHS police or fire services
So paid for by the public? yes, but administrated by the English British government
therefore state controlled and funded media
I don’t think Elon Musk cares one way or the other, and he’s certainly not intimidated by the BBC or English government, because he’s the kind of guy who could change his mind right back in a fortnight stating he was right the first time and still not care
Yep.
The BBC hierarchy gets particularly tetchy when it’s pointed who they work for as opposed who ‘voluntarily’ pays for it…
There was an email about it from a Spanish fella, you must have seen it..
There’s a couple of misunderstandings (to be polite) floating around, and the first is the meaning of the word “forensic”.
The normal purpose of auditing or accounting for an entity is to prepare a set of statements (accounts), which are robust and should stand up in court. That’s “compliance”, and it could be summarised as keeping the client OUT of court, and for the auditors, staying OUT of court themselves.
The purpose of “forensic” auditing or accounting is generally the complete opposite. Its purpose is to uncover evidence of fraud if it exists, and therefore can be summarised as aiming at getting INTO court.
It’s a different skillset, and even a different employee makeup for any company, as testifying in court as an expert is a specialist skill, and a forensic auditing company would have specialists on its books.
Johnston Carmichael are auditors and accountants, not forensic auditors or forensic accountants.
“Its purpose is to uncover evidence of fraud if it exists, and therefore can be summarised as aiming at getting INTO court.”
And also possibly the reverse of that – to counter any allegations, before or during court.
This is about the US but it’s easy read:
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/forensic-accounting-vs-auditing/
Aye. From PWC.
https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/services/assurance/what-is-an-audit.html
The purpose of an audit is to form a view on whether the information presented in the financial report, taken as a whole, reflects the financial position of the organisation at a given date, for example:
– Are details of what is owned [campervans etc) and what the organisation owes [say in terms of labilities to donors] properly recorded in the balance sheet?
– Are profits or losses properly assessed?
When examining the financial report, auditors must follow auditing standards which are set by a government body. Once auditors have completed their work, they write an audit report, explaining what they have done and giving an opinion drawn from their work. Generally, all listed companies and limited liability companies are subject to an audit each year. Other organisations may require or request an audit depending on their structure and ownership.
While auditors are not necessarily going to notice if someone has been stealing £20 a week from the tea & coffee honesty box… or if someone’s house now has loads of extra ‘free’ stationary that they might be flogging on ebay… or even if someone has been managing to make up invoices to pay, so directing a few £k a month to their own pocket somehow by a devious means…
If however, say, £0.66 f’n million has gone missing – like 10% of turnover – and into the back pocket of someone, and the press has, for years, been screaming at said auditors and anyone who’d listen that they think £0.66m has gone missing into the back pockets of one or more person… well, that’s the kind if irregularities auditors are tasked with spotting. 🙂
Which is why, since this story appeared in the papers years ago – what like initially based on the 2019 accounts, so in 2020 – I’ve been perplexed. The campervan was bought in 2021 FHS. I mean huh?
Key aspects:
For each major activity listed in the financial report, auditors identify and assess any risks [like 10% of turnover not being spent as claimed] which could have a significant impact on the financial position or financial performance, and also some of the measures (called internal controls) that the organisation has put in place to mitigate those risks.
The prime purpose of the audit is to form an opinion on the information in the financial report taken as a whole, and not to identify all possible irregularities. This means that although auditors are on the look-out for signs of potential material fraud, it is not possible to be certain that frauds will be identified.
Just like big, f’n obvious ones that everyone is saying the organisation is apparently up to.
The second is about campervans, or caravans, or any kind of leisure vehicle. Some seem to think that they can not be bought as a legitimate expense, but of course they can. Campervans hiring companies deduct them for tax and capital allowances, sites owners can, and so indeed can ordinary businesses that use them as exhibition vehicles – or even temporary accommodation for employees including directors.
And at that, if you take the use of company vans, personal use is allowed as long as records are kept and allowance are made,, and for instance for employees taking the works van home at the end of the day and parking it at home, it is presumed some limited use will be for personal reasons, like (up to 12 times a year I think it is) taking a load of rubbish up the coup – if you can be bothered getting the permit! Or even getting the messages on a Friday.
The golden rule is generally to keep records of both business and private use, just in case of – audit – of any type.
Talking in generalities is clearly OK, but it really is difficult for someone with a problem-solving and trouble-shooting (forensic even) frame of mind to refrain from commenting when he or she reads some of the garbage you find “Out there” – clearly by people who’ve never done any of their own bookkeeping or indeed, accounts preparation and submission to CH or HMRC, even for a microentity.
IR are actually very helpful, by the way, though they too have had cuts. For interest, I got an EORI number instantly online no hassle at all last year, whereas in Germany it’s totally another story. Credit where it’s due and the UK is actually good for that.
Onwards and Upwards!
And thirdly, Mr Plod is just an ignorant title. The P0lis have a fraud unit possibly called something like the Serious and Organised Crime Unit.
English papers were saying ‘McPlod’. If it was the Irish police, it would be ‘Mick Plod’ or e.g. ‘Paddy Plod’.
Just friendly ‘banter’. You know, like if our papers said ‘Brexiter Gammon Plod’ or ‘Morris Dancing Plod’ re Police England. 🙂
Off topic but also on topic:
Ouch, put like that it looks really bad.
Filling their own pockets while attacking striking workers for seeking a fair pay rise during this cost of living crisis is not a good look. The Scottish government at least has done the best it can for the workers they are responsible for paying. Unlike the Tories and their partner’s Labour who attack them for going on strike,
A graph speaks a thousand words.
Jeez.
Thank you so much for your support of the junior doctors in England. They are taking a real stand against an uncaring government, who have cut their salaries again and again over a period of years. The Tories claim they are asking for the moon and the stars, but they are literally only asking for their salaries to be worth what they were 15 years ago. It is telling that junior doctors in Scotland and Wales are far less likely to strike, because the devolved governments are far more likely to listen.
I really hope your mum is recovering well.
Best of luck to the junior doctors in England. They are taking on a monstrous bunch of devious tyrants who care only about lining their own pockets and those of their chums. It is a David and Goliath struggle. But David did win.
What grinds my gears most is the utter nonsense being promoted in the media over the junior doctors strike (et al) from the “Tufton Street Brigade” – Breathtaking in it’s sheer arrogance, the script refers to a “massive pay-rise” when it’s restoration of levels of pay which were already meagre enough.
In one discussion I listened to a figure of 1 billion was being bandied around as the cost of restoring junior doctor incomes, to which the right-wing pundit responded with the classic “where’s the money going to come from ?”.
The question should be WHERE DID THE MONEY GO since 2008 instead of to doctors, nurses, etc. ?
HS2, Hinkley, etc. etc. were running (or not) jokes before the Track & Trace and PPE fiascos came along, billions spent to little or no benefit to the public.
And they can’t fathom why Scots look at Independence as a solution… 🙄
The question should be WHERE DID THE MONEY GO since 2008 instead of to doctors, nurses, etc. ?
Ezactly. Probably in some obscure accounts in the Cayman Islands where all the best thieves bank.
The Tories cut NHS funding from 2015 to 2020 did not increase it. Concentrated on Brexit instead of pandemic management,
UK Gov revenue £800Billion. Spent £900Billion, (rounded up). Including £270Billion Covid spending? Over two years. £370Billion over a lifetime.
UK Gov spending £13Billion a year decommissioning Nuclear a year over ten years £130Billion.
UK Gov Accounts 2019/20. Published June 2022.
UK Gov pension payout, pension& benefits £250Billion, increased because of pandemic? Admin costs £240Billion. Higher because of the pandemic? Raising (UK) pensions/benefits would cut admin costs.
Scotland pays (UK) Gov pensions/benefits from revenues raised in Scotland,
Scotland pays repayments on loans not borrowed or spent in Scotland, Scotland loses £3Billion in tax evasion. Scotland loses £Billions because of Brexit. Pays too much for Trident & Defence etc. Pays for Westminster bureaucracy. Westminster and offices of bureaucracy in the Mall. Gov HQ and London HQ and high paid jobs etc. Yet claim not to have monies to pay essential workers,
The *news* and how they mess with folks heads couldn’t be more obvious right now following the visit by the American president Joe Biden
GB news reports Joe Biden is anti British, Sky news reports that people are saying Joe Biden is anti British and the BBC asks the question “Is Joe Biden anti British”?
Not one of these *news* organizations even considers for a second that Joe Biden is simply pro Irish because that’s where his anscestors came from, because to be pro anything else is in their book anti British and you the viewer or listener has to get that firmly into your napper or you’re anti British as well
The problem with all this is *the British* used to call the Irish *British* when they owned them, until those folks extricated themselves from British control, now the *British* are forced to call the Irish Irish and they really hate having to do recognise that fact
So who are *the British*? eh well they’re the English who took over other people’s countries and called them British in their pretend inclusiveness of empire building
So I guess President Joe Biden knows that fine well, which probably makes him if anything anti English or even neutral about the English, and the great *British* media know that, and that’s why they include Scotland and Wales people in their attempt to use us as their owned*British* subjects and anti Joe Biden weapons of the day
I don’t know Joe Biden, never met him, he might be a lovely guy he might not, I’ve no idea, but I’m not going to judge and jury a man on the say so of biased English British media trying to con me into doing so just because they’re anti everybody else who’s not them
Slimy bunch the *British* aren’t they, no wonder Joe Biden only spent 40 minutes with the *British* PM then went off to have a good visit with the nice folks in the independent country of Ireland, who to a man woman and child welcomed him with open hearts and minds as opposed to the North where he was greeted with protesting union flags and people wearing masks of the late Queen Elizabeth, a reminder of course to president Joe Biden that the English British oppressed his country also till America kicked them out
So America 1, Ireland 1, English British 0
Scotland and Wales can win just like the Irish did, and we win by not playing with them in their league with their ball their rules and their referee
Leave them tae play wae themselves, the bunch of (…….) well they ur
The problem with the SNP is that it grew from an organisation with 8,000 members to one with 25,500 members without changing its structure to accommodate the extra members, and then it grew again to over 125,000. With a turnover of £5 million or more.
This is the equivalent of an SME growing through small to medium, to large, in terms of business. And one thing they often do is to employ outside help to grow successfully – yes, to re-engineer the business processes. Normally this is the likes of a management consultancy of some sort.
Considering the current woes of the SNP, my old adage about always making a good thing out of a bad thing comes to mind. So they employ some sort of consultancy which includes a thorough overhaul of their accounting systems and checks and balances – at a cost. But they launch a campaign for new members to cover the costs, and more.
Something along the lines of:
“The SNP has engaged an external management consultancy (perhaps the likes of Price Waterhouse Cooper who have a big presence in Glasgow, or Deloitte, or PA consulting with an office in Edinburgh) to update our structures to move into the 21st Century and accommodate and fully engage membership in our drive towards 150,00 members or more. Join now and be part of vibrant Scotland as we head for our future with Independence”.
And engaging with all members in the way members want to engage, in strategy, tactics, planning, policies for Independence, plus the wider Yes movement with a far better website.
One thing is fir sure; if they do the “restructuring” internally it will be the same old same old as quite naturally, they don’t have identified skills they can use within the organisation itself – a major fault of the SNP itself in not having asked its very capable members to come forward for what they are good at, rather than do you want to leaflet, street stall, doorknock or stuff envelopes?
I agree with Paul that the SNP is the only viable vessel for both independence and in the shorter term governing Scotland. The outgoing administration have sailed the vessel perilously close the rocks and we need a refit and some repairs. However, as far as I can see the mistakes were not malicious or self serving. It was nothing like the contracts the Tories dispensed like confetti for PPE and the like.
So, yes, we need a more open NEC, a more adventurous and less fearful Standing Orders Committee and a more transparent central administration. All of these things are doable and I think we will be a better party for it. Taking a positive frame of mind and saying “what good can come of this” then there are opportunities to make the party a much more nimble and less centralised monolith.
Obviously, the opposition parties including Alba will look to try and capitalise on the initial confusion of recent events. However, I wouldn’t vote Tory or Lib Dem if you paid me. Labour is still exactly where it was in 2014 and about as appealing as a Daily Record Vow. Alba is not a solution, It may be a symptom of that which ailed the SNP but it isn’t the cure. It has attracted some remarkably vitriolic people. I simply would not feel at home there. Nor do I consider their demands that we rerun the leadership election reasonable. If they wanted a say on that matter they should have retained their membership of the SNP. They have their own party and their own leaders (whoever they may be…it is none of my business). The events that have unfolded would not have had any bearing on my vote. Admittedly I voted for Kate but I have been favourably impressed by how Humza is managing and communicating with the membership. There is a road to go but the first steps are in the right direction.