Thanks to Andrew for alerting me to this:
A UK minister has refused to confirm whether the government will pay compensation to women hit by the rise in the state pension age. An ombudsman has recommended that those affected receive an apology and pay-outs between one nearly three thousand pounds.
What does Scottish Labour have to say, we wonder:
Two weeks ago, they were right behind compensation and turning up at WASPI events.
Labour Leader, Anas Sarwar, has removed all traces of his earlier support from his social media.
Why?
Anas Sarwar’s party have received instructions from the UK leadership not to commit to compensating WASPI women (Image: PA)
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24203858.scottish-labour-overruled-uk-party-waspi-women-support/
BBC Scotland?
According to https://twitter.com/Davyjrob67 this morning:
c. 54 news items posted on X by
since yesterday & not one mention of the WASPI scandal.Bias by omission at its most clear.
Talking-up Scotland / Scottish media fact checking is like shooting fish in a barrel 
AND NOW BIGOTED BBC ATTACKING WOMENS PENSIONS
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Waspi women should get compensation. When they do get their pensions they will get a higher amount. If they do not die first. Total discrimination. Any age increase should have been factored in longer. Some will get work based pensions but have to rely on benefits. Instead of paying benefits. Pay them their pension earlier. Benefits or pension. What’s the difference. Many will have to get a pay out.
If pensions were increased there would be less need for benefit administration. Means tested. 10% of pensioners work in Scotland. 5% in the rest of the UK. 10% of pensioners pay tax. Tax threshold £12K.
Pension a 1/4 of average income. Needs benefit top up for many. Women on average live 5 years longer. People are voting to starve their mothers, who gave them birth.
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Well if you, like Jackie Baillie, were pictured standing beside WASPI women and a banner that says ‘WASPI West Dunbartonshire’…..then you as a politician representing that area had better be prepared to follow through and continue to promote their WASPI cause…..more so when or if Labour are elected as the next UK Government……because the WASPI women will not go away, will never give up their fight and irrespective of who holds the public purse as the UK Government …well WASPI women will look to them for compensation and to redress the injustice that has happened because of a UK government and also while under the watch of a UK government.
Jackie cannot do, in this instance, what she usually does and try to involve the SNP in this matter in suggesting they should offer some compensation to these women in Scotland….as WASPI women are very well clued up as to who is ultimately responsible for this injustice and thus who should be the actual ones paying out the compensation to them…..be it on her , Baillie’s, own head if she does attempt to try and play politics with this…..as it will end very badly for both her and her party……as of all the current issues this is the one she, Baillie, will not be able to gaslight or apply a smokescreen upon if she somehow suggests the SNP have a responsibility in this to the WASPI women in Scotland…….as WASPI women will know only too well that is sh*te.
So Jackie has now put her head above the parapet in declaring she supports WASPI women and their fight for compensation…..and now she cannot back down……so some photo ops can come back and bite you……as if Labour do win the next GE she, Baillie, will have to now be prepared to fight for WASPI women against her own HQ party….as will many other Labour politicians who also came out to support WASPI women when the Tories were in charge……so nowhere for them to hide either……this will define who is really working on behalf of the people and who is really always working on behalf of their own party…..always and only…..so if you talk the talk then you better be prepared to walk the walk…..this should be interesting post the next GE for the Labour HQ party…….if they do indeed win the next GE. (and also for the branch office in Scotland)…..
BTW no amount of excuses from Labour on them as a new government having no money because of the previous Tory government’s fiscal irresponsibility…..as currently they, Labour, are using a slogan that promotes that they will be a government for “change” and a “Fresh start”……so in them adopting austerity policies it will only prove that they, Labour, are anything but a “Change” or a “Fresh start”…..instead they will be a “change” in party name only as the new UK government…..but in all else they will be seen to be adopting a ‘continuation’ of what we the public have suffered under for far too long with the Tories as the UK Govt……proving that slogans are indeed empty and not to be trusted……we in Scotland , via Labour, have been there already with their campaigning slogans…..and we have proof that they were indeed empty and also too easily broken…..as in the slogan that assured us that we Scotland would be Better Together as part of their UK…..but that has, since 2014, for Scotland been an out and out lie.
I know the WASPI women will not be so easily taken in as some in Scotland were in 2014…..so WASPI as an outstanding injustice , together with other outstanding injustices awaiting compensation, such as the Infected blood scandal where in December 2023 “the TORY government had said it was still not in a position to make a final decision on compensation for the victims of the infected blood scandal”.…..and too many of the victims of the Windrush scandal were reported last year as “still facing long waits and inadequate offers of compensation, according to a new report by a global human rights group”.….plus the victims of the Post Office scandal were in 2024 reported as still not receiving full justice as “more than 4,000 people in total have been told they are eligible for compensation. But the schemes they need to access in order to receive remuneration for their suffering can be long-winded and complicated“.
My guess is that the Tories will drag all of the above outstanding injustices and all outstanding compensation matters out until the GE…and if Labour do win then it will be them, Labour HQ, who will have to deal with it all……let’s then see how they deal with these injustices and outstanding compensation issues…..oh and also how they , New New Labour HQ, will manage to supposedly try to ‘Make Brexit work’……
So perhaps Scotland does need to see the New New Labour HQ in action as the next UK Government…… for some (majority) in Scotland to then finally realise and also see just how much ‘Nothing will (actually) “change” for the better……irrespective of who is in charge of their UK as a government !
As Theresa May once said ‘Nothing has changed” and Foulkes once said “they are doing it deliberately too”…..and that I think is what more of us will say in Scotland once we endure a Labour HQ government in charge of the UK……
Pre-empt all of that by voting for the SNP in the next GE…..who at least will, as MP’s, try to fight for Scotland and ultimately eventually help us win our justified and deserving independence from their Labour/Tory/Lib Dem/UKIP/Reform UK party/Reclaim party/Workers party of Britain and also other rogue parties….. UK state ( a right state it is in too….. in more ways than one……as the word ‘wing’ comes into it too….LOL).
NMRN
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Labour’s Jackie Baillie has made much of her support for the WASPI women. The official website of Labour in Scotland’s Deputy Leader still has this from 7 November 2018: ‘MP AND MSP CALL FOR WOMEN AFFECTED BY STATE PENSION CHANGES TO GET INVOLVED IN WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE WASPI GROUP’.
‘Jackie said: “I am delighted that local women are willing to take the WASPI campaign forward, to raise awareness and gather more support locally. WASPI women have been badly affected by the DWP’s State Pension Changes, they have been given little or no notice and no time to plan for their future.
“The news that the Parliamentary Ombudsman will be taking forward six test cases is a positive step forward. I hope that this will demonstrate the detrimental impact that these changes have had on women up and down the country and hopefully MAKE THIS TORY GOVERNMENT SEE SENSE.” (my emphasis)
And still on her website dated 20 April 2020: ‘HUNDREDS OF WOMEN ATTEND WASPI MEETING IN DUMBARTON’
‘Jackie said: “The changes to the state pension age have affected thousands of women here in my constituency, and right across Scotland.”
And: “These pension changes should have been made much more slowly over time, allowing women a chance to make plans for their later retirement. Instead thousands of women have been PUSHED INTO POVERTY, with the Tory Government REFUSING TO LISTEN TO THEIR CONCERNS, OR ACT TO HELP THEM.’
Perhaps more significantly, this is from a speech in Holyrood in 2019: (https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-03-04-2019?meeting=12038&iob=108927#1783)
‘Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): “.. I welcome the WASPI campaigners from my constituency and across Scotland who are in the gallery, and I encourage colleagues to meet them after the debate to learn more about the impact on them and WHAT EACH OF US CAN DO TO HELP WITH THE CAMPAIGN.”
“More than 2.5 million women who were born in the 1950s have had their state pension age changed without fair notification—in fact, it is probably true to say that many of them have had it changed without any notification at all. Those women deserve recognition for the injustice that they have suffered, an apology for the way in which their complaints have been handled AND COMPENSATION FOR THEIR LOSS.
And: “I had the pleasure of organising a meeting for WASPI women in Dumbarton to which hundreds upon hundreds of women came. I congratulate my local WASPI groups in Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire. I STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH THEM TO ADDRESS THE INJUSTICE THAT THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED, AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE IN THE PARLIAMENT TO JOIN THE FIGHT. WASPI WOMEN DESERVE JUSTICE.”
Will Mr Sarwar stand side by side with the WASPI women? If Mr Sarwar and Ms Baillie’s boss in London won’t stand side by side with them, will all those ‘hundreds upon hundreds ‘ of women in West Dunbartonshire wonder what difference having a leading Labour in Scotland politician’s ‘support’ make?
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Error. In this: ’And still on her website dated 20 April 2020: ‘HUNDREDS OF WOMEN ATTEND WASPI MEETING IN DUMBARTON’ – the year should be 2018.
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O/T apologies
MSM Twitter account tweeted:
“The Good Morning Scotland team are doing their level best to spike the good news that a record number of junior doctors have taken up posts. The 0805 interview with the BMA rep Hugh Pearson was classic ‘don’t praise the Scottish NHS’ stuff”
But MSM Monitor then tweeted :
“We aren’t doing as well as comparable countries BMA rep Hugh Pearson told Good Morning Scotland this morning when being interviewed about junior doctors. There must be two Hugh Pearsons then. When will these trade union reps stop pandering to BBC Scotland’s political agenda”?
Which was in relation to a recent tweet that MSM Monitor had captured via the same Hugh Pearson BMA rep…..as…..
Hugh Pearson tweeted:
” Solidarity with Welsh doctors today”
“It is remarkable that Welsh Labour consider a 5% pay rise acceptable when compared to offers in Scotland and even England”
“#FullPayRestoration”
(Hugh used Welsh, Scottish & English flags to symbolise countries).
Plus as the BBC try to distract us from the following:
Good news today revealed on Junior Doctors in Scotland (sourced via STV News website)
“More than 1,100 entry-level posts for junior doctors were filled in 2023, according to the latest figures”.
“Statistics published by NHS Education for Scotland showed that 1,156 (94%) of the 1,231 jobs advertised were successfully filled last year”.
“The figures includes all entry-level posts in anaesthetics, radiology, emergency medicine, surgery and psychiatry”.
“The data also showed that 100% of all GP training programmes advertised were filled for the first time ever”.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “It’s clear from these results that Scotland continues to perform strongly in the field of medical education and training”.
“The junior doctor pay deal saw a 12.4% increase for 2023-24, alongside the 4.5% uplift for 2022-23”.
“Professor Emma Watson, executive medical director at NHS Education for Scotland, said the results “demonstrate that doctors are attracted to working and living in Scotland”.
Meanwhile, as per , the BBC in Scotland…..say NO….to promoting any positivity that is connected to our NHS in Scotland….as their preferred modus operandi is to ‘Dig for dirt’….indeed they invite onto their various programmes specific individuals who can be swayed into ‘dishing their version of contrived dirt’ and the BBC interviewer can do this via using certain interview techniques that lead down the path (they want it to) as in one that ends up as yet another #SNPBAD news story via the BBC in Scotland…by encouraging (goading) the interviewee to agree with a statement that they , the BBC interviewer, makes or in presenting them with a hypothetical scenario…….both of which can be sourced by what the interviewer often states as being “Opposition parties say” or “some sources have said” or them noting findings sourced from some random Think Tank that equates to #SNPBAD……and some times the interviewee is a willing participant in this charade….those who are not willing to collude are then, I am sure, deleted from the BBC’s speed dial of ‘usual suspects’ who the BBC view as being ones who are all too willing to diss both the SNP & the Scottish government.(and independence too obvs)………as per those specific special individuals who are extremely popular with the BBC here and who we all know to be a succession of infamous invitees who are all anti SNP , anti independence and Pro (non) Union supporters, ex Tory election candidates, Tory donors and Tory supporters etc etc (we all know who they are and what have they said when interviewed by the BBC….and other news channels too….hence why we hear their ‘opinion’ far too often via the MSM, especially BBC Scotland news, TV and Radio, and too on rogue new(ish) ‘news’ channels as well)
Alas Hugh Pearson has fell into a trap of his own making….on Twitter he commends Scotland’s treatment of Junior Doctors but mysteriously when interviewed by the BBC Scotland he morphs into a BBC version of himself…..as in the #SNPBAD version.
Yet the BBC want us to believe that social media cannot be trusted to tell the truth via news….well I say thank God for social media as how else would we have seen Hugh’s tweet praising Scotland’s action on Junior Doctor’s pay and dissing the Welsh Labour’s poor reaction to them…..and then we would have had to rely on his #SNPBAD version via BBC Radio Scotland……
NMRN
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Can I urge people , including Prof John Robertson, to read the Skwawkbox article today on “Exclusive: listen to Paul Mason’s pro-Starmer/Israel meltdown in full”
It also has other info….very revealing….and more reason not to vote for Labour.
You can source it just now , if quick, via James Foster Twitter X account ( he is a pro Corbyn anti Starmer commentator who has 74K followers on Twitter X)….he has it linked on his account and even if you are not on Twitter X or a follower of his then Twitter X still shows the last three tweets of an account so that you can access it….or just go into the skwawkbox article….LOL
Breaking : everything and everyone connected to the Labour party…LOL
NMRN
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Interestingly, https://twitter.com/AaronBastani/status/1772590919121850488
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The Skwawbox article in question, which has the audio file of the meeting segment Mason lied about https://skwawkbox.org/2024/03/26/exclusive-listen-to-paul-masons-pro-starmer-israel-meltdown-in-full/
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Thanks Bob for linking that article onto here…I’m such a numptie and I just cannot seem to do that…..I hope you managed , if interested, to have a wee read of it.
Hope your day has been nice and that your evening will be too
🙂
NMRN
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Yep, read it and listened to the recording, there was no dispute whatever Mason deliberately lied to force his version on the public before realising someone recorded it..
I suspect there’s more behind this than is immediately apparent, but it’s deeply disturbing….
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Another O/T ( cannot keep up with all the **** (rhymes with Spit) going down (down down down)….
Open democracy article.
“Ministers let P&O owner back into bed months after sacking scandal”
“UK promised DP World ‘wouldn’t get away with’ firing 800 workers illegally. But months later, the love affair resumed”
“The government quietly rekindled its relationship with P&O owner DP World just eight months after ministers decried its “brutal” and illegal sacking of almost 800 workers in Britain, newly released records reveal”
“In March 2022, then prime minister Boris Johnson promised that the firm, which is ultimately owned by Dubai’s ruling royal family, “aren’t going to get away with it” after it summarily dismissed hundreds of workers with a pre-recorded four-minute video”
“The then transport secretary Grant Shapps called for P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite to resign after he admitted to MPs that he had deliberately broken the law by failing to consult his workers before firing them – and that he would do the same thing again” (Shapps is now still a government minister under Sunak).
“But records released last week show that ministers met with P&O’s owners DP World to discuss new business deals less than a year after the scandal, having done little to compel the company to change its ways – Hebblethwaite is still in post and the government has not acted on its threats to fine the company”
“The UK’s development finance body also confirmed to openDemocracy for the first time since the scandal that DP World will benefit from a further investment of hundreds of millions of pounds of aid money into a joint project”.
“The development minister, Andrew Mitchell, met with DP World representatives in January 2023, according to details of ministerial meetings published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office last week”.
“A month later, DP World met with Dominic Johnson, a minister at the Department for Business and Trade, to discuss “freeports, UK regulation and expansion plans”.
“TUC employment rights lead Tim Sharp said: “Rogue employers shouldn’t be rewarded for treating their staff like throwaway labour”.
“Ministers promised they would ‘not stand by’ when P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers. But two years on, the Conservatives are handing out yet more lucrative contracts to its parent company”.
“This is further proof that the Tories don’t care about workers’ rights.”
“Mitchell’s meeting signalling “further investment” suggests that the government could be preparing to up its stake in a joint venture with DP World”.
“The government said it carried out a review of all public contracts with P&O in 2022 and cancelled one as a result. It claimed that no further contracts have been awarded, but the Ministry of Defence has spent £900, 000 with the firm for freight and passenger transport since. And in May last year, the government also gave DP World approval to co-run the Thames Freeport, its third port in the UK along with two others it solely runs in Southampton and London”
Ah but what about the Scottish Ferries Fiasco, catastrophe, scandal etc etc etc ….as in the only Ferry story in town….or rather in towns and cities across the UK via being constantly targeted and highlighted by the MSM especially the media (ITO) within Scotland…..cue Dross on DP World and his party as in what will he have to say in respect to his party as government and their scandalous behaviour with DP World…..well that will be……nowt….as he as Tory leader (ITO) in Scotland will get asked nowt by our media (ITO) about Tory HQ and their many many many shenanigans….., unlike Humza Yousaf (a real) leader of the SNP who is constantly challenged, confronted, harassed and cross examined upon everything by the media where we are (and elsewhere too) …..oh and accused as well…..as in #SNPBAD accused….
To think the Tories here have the sheer audacity to try and accuse and challenge the SNP as being ones that they, Tory branch office, say are always #BAD….obvious they, Tory branch office, really are working behind, what they see as, enemy lines…all on behalf of their HQ and too their preferred country….clue it’s NOT Scotland……as if.
NMRN
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Another OT, on this occasion breathing fresh hyperbole into the “Ferry Stories” is the thoroughly awful Kathryn Samson presenting “Scotland ferries crisis hurting tourism and whisky trade” from C4 – https://www.channel4.com/news/scotland-ferries-crisis-hurting-tourism-and-whisky-trade
All the usual tropes are reeled off by the atrocious Kathryn, “Scottish ferries are in rolling crisis..”, “Over a third of vessels in the Calmac fleet are beyond their average life expectancy”, before the interview with Anthony Wills pitches the bizarre notion his Kilchoman Distillery (2005) had struggled to stay in business because of ‘the ferry’…
Yet it was Kathryn’s interview with the redoubtable Fiona Hyslop which took the biscuit as she trotted out “Who has resigned”, as if SG Ministers are personally responsible for the long delayed and over-budget FMEL contracts, or ship maintenance…
Were a Minister to resign, would that resolve the “crisis, what crisis” ? How many resignations would it need ? All of them ? Then what ?
As well as the political dimension of this continuing propaganda campaign to demean Calmac, it’s difficult to avoid concluding someone with very deep pockets and business connections is funding it…
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Yep I saw that Bob…..she, Samson, is doing the job as required as their ‘Scottish’ correspondent….hatchet job that is.
Channel 4 news is no better than the BBC when it comes to the SNP……
When she spoke to the Distillery owner…..and he said that his business nearly shut down because of the #BAD Ferries and late delivery of supplies he needed for whisky…..perhaps Kathryn could have then mentioned that would have been a loss for the UK government…..since it is their Treasury that benefits from whisky sales via tax….and was it not the UK government that in 2023 budget raised the tax levy on whisky sales …..resulting in 75% of the average priced bottle of whisky being collected in tax…..and I wonder the impact that Brexit has had upon islands such as Islay ….Whoa….steady there……Kathryn is not going to go down either of these rabbit holes….not when this is another #SNPBAD opportunity…..why spoil it !
‘Scottish’ correspondent is, in effect, just like those whose political title is ‘Scottish and Shadow Secretaries of state for Scotland’….all of them work on behalf of their masters in England against Scotland…..the ‘Scottish’ part of their job title means nothing….and certainly does nothing for Scotland either……just poorly displayed window dressing that’s all……that we can all see through quite clearly !
NMRN
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Samson is playing the same game as Jenkins before, it’s almost as if they’re coached by BBC Scotland…
As commented over on WGD –
Indeed, just watched the awful Kathryn reel off all the usual tropes in the latest iteration of this well funded and orchestrated propaganda campaign, but it was the private distillery owner (est 2005) who maxxed out the hyperbole with ‘crisis’ and the almost laughable mis-presentation of “in June last year the whisky industry on Islay was 3 days from shutting down because of not being able to guarantee getting our supplies onto the island..” – Now anybody who knows about distilling would hear that and chuckle, it’s as far removed from a speedy production process as you’re likely to get..
However the bold Kathryn made no mention of why the hiccup occurred – You may recall May/June 2023 as when the ‘Heb Isles’ as it’s known and the ‘Finlaggan’ both ended up out of service, one planned the other unplanned. Sheer coincidence and unfortunate, but Calmac ended up juggling to provide a skeleton service whilst repairs got done, it’s not as if Calmac have loads of spare boats and crews just hanging around, any more than suppliers have spare trucks and drivers…
All of this was fabricated as extension to the FMEL saga – Anybody else get the feeling we might know who with deep pockets and business connections has been funding this propaganda campaign ?
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The plot thickens…well noted Bob.
Do you notice that it’s always Islay the TV media go to…..for #FerriesBad stories…..BBC went there too as I think did STV news also….
Hmm….is Islay not a part of Lib Dem MP Alister Carmichaels constituency…..
Kathryn also noted in her #SNPBAD attempted ‘report’ that a ferry was built in Turkey…..I guess then that the UK government awarding the construction of some parts of ships for the Royal Navy to overseas (foreign) companies does not matter then….as that’s ….different ? (we all know what she, Samson, was trying to say and do in noting the Turkey connection) ….however it was reported that “The Conservative UK government tends towards a competitive procurement process, which goes for the lowest cost bidder, no matter where they are bidding from”….
Just sayin.
Plus we also had Chris Grayling and his ‘Phantom’ Ferries in the event of a NO deal Brexit….Seaborne Freight was awarded a £13.8 million contract to run a freight service between Ramsgate and Ostend……they, Seaborne, had never run a ferry service and a local councillor said it would be impossible to launch before Brexit. Indeed a Conservative Kent county councillor Paul Messenger said it was impossible for the government to have carried out sufficient checks on the firm. “It has no ships and no trading history so how can due diligence be done?” he asked.
The government had also awarded additional, much larger ferry contracts to French company Brittany Ferries and Danish shipping firm DFDS, worth £46.6m and £42.5m (€47.3m) respectively……
However re Seaborne Ferries the UK government axed its no-deal Brexit contract with Seaborne, who had no ships, after the Irish company backing the deal pulled out.
The New European reported in 2019 that Chris Grayling Tory Transport minister had wasted £85 million pounds of tax payers money on No deal Brexit Ferry contracts …as per findings they sourced from a watchdog on what was undoubtedly a Tory Ferry Fiasco/Scandal that seems now to be filed under #Wheesht……and to top it all Seaborne Ferries eventually went...bust.
Plus the Department of Transport, headed by Grayling as Transport Secretary, also had to settle a claim made by Eurotunnel, for not having run a full public procurement process, Eurotunnel subsequently sued, claiming it had never been considered for a contract, despite having previously run a cross-channel ferry service…..and they were awarded an ‘out of court settlement’ of £33 Million paid by the UK government’s Department of Transport.
So come on…..the UK Tory government have a lot of (bad) form (history) on maritime matters do they not….
NMRN
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*however it was reported that “The Conservative UK government tends towards a competitive procurement process, which goes for the lowest cost bidder, no matter where they are bidding from”….
The above was not BTW reported by her…Samson last night in her ‘report’…but that information was reported as a fact in December 2023….where the Tories argued that” this current system delivers better value for public money, with no impact on the operational effectiveness of vessels”..
NMRN
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NMRN
Wee correction: Alister Carmichael’s constituency is Orkney and Shetland.
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Thanks Legerwood…..I was not sure….I should have checked as I mistakenly thought that Islay was part of his constituency….
Geography not my strongest point (among other things)…..LOL
NMRN
Have a nice day
🙂
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The SNP Gov have four ferries being built. Two will save £Billions in fuel. More than Unionists the ever built. One a year. The increased ferry use is tourists who made localised trips because of COVID. The ferries are totally subsidised for the isles with public monies.
Orkney had an oil fund. Scotland did not. If people do not like subsidised life on the islands they could always come on shore and stop complaining all the time. They are getting more than their share. Life can be difficult if people chose to be there. Orkney etc the best places to live in the UK/world.
Whisky industry and fishing, oil sector making massive profits. Contributing £Billions to the Westminster treasury. Taking £Billions from Scotland that would build lots of ferries in Scotland.
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‘The ferries are totally subsidised for the isles with public monies.’
What level of public subsidy does the CalMac ferry for Islay attract specifically for freight? What proportion of Islay ferry freight capacity is used by whisky distillers? What proportion of the distillers’ utilisation of CalMac freight capacity is used by the multinational owners of Islay distilleries like Diageo, Beam Suntory, Remy Cointreau, Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, Distell International? Just wondering!
When complaining about CalMac ferry service provision for the upcoming Fèis Ìle – the Islay Festival – ‘a gathering of whisky and Islay fans from across the globe’, the festival’s website had the texts of open letters to CalMac and the Scottish Government. In this the festival organisers expressed displeasure that CalMac would be providing an enhanced service to support the Tiree Music festival this summer but had not committed to do the same for Islay.
It stated: ‘You have mentioned several times that you may need to consult or restrict sailings on another route to free up capacity for Islay, however, you are quite happy to take ferries from Islay to support Tiree, despite the fact this leaves us on Islay short.’
Of course the contrast is so very stark. The Tiree Music Festival is run by a Community Interest Company (CIC) with ‘an asset lock to the Tiree Trust.’ The multinationals that own most of the Islay distilleries could charter transport at their own expense to get their customers to the whisky festival. (I note that CalMac is acceding to the demand for an increased service for Islay during the festival, presumably at some other island’s expense.)
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saving billions in fuel – really ? An explanation would be welcome.
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There are not just ferries there are subsidised flights as well. Especially in an emergency.
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Flying salmon direct from Scotland to China. Whisky exports around the world. Worth £Billions. On vessels.
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Spot the difference.
BBC Scotland news website :
February 2024 headline
“Former SNP councillor charged with multiple sexual offences”
Then we read….this….
March 2024 (today) headline (6th story) via the BBC Scotland website (soon perhaps to disappear from their website)….
“Ex-councillor jailed for having indecent images of children”
Guess which party the “Ex councillor” was from…..no…not the SNP as that would have been in the BBC’s headline….well he was an ex Labour councillor.
So the BBC team think it is compulsory to note the party name in their headline when tis the SNP….but no need to name the party when tis a Pro UK party….this is a regular behaviour we witness via the BBC website.
As too did these following ‘papers’ also note the former party name (as in him being an ex SNP Councillor) The Sun, The Daily Record, Daily Express, The Scotsman, The Courier, The Independent, SKY News, The Times, The Herald, The Daily Mail…..and also papers darn Sarf did too….as in the Slough Observer, Surrey Comet, Dorset Echo, The York Press and the Ely Standard……so #SNPBAD is a UK growing trend then.
So now the ex Labour councillor has been jailed for 28 months after admitting possessing indecent images of children.
But wait how did the press headline the news via this ex Labour councillor…….well….
The Herald “Disgraced former Clydebank Councillor Craig Edward Jailed” (no party name)
The Daily Record “Disgraced former West Dunbartonshire councillor jailed” (no party name)
So far the only reference to this ex Labour councillor via other papers was where he had been caught or snared via his offences but headlines did NOT yet again name his former party…i.e. Labour party.
But we are supposed to believe there is no ongoing vendetta via the media in promoting anything negative about the SNP…via anyone connected to the party both in the past and the present….in the press/media always, via their headlines, highlighting the party name i.e. SNP as in #SNPBAD…..while simultanously similar stories linked to Pro UK parties the same press and media omit their party name in the headlines when tis a #BAD story..…so not a conspiracy theory but an actual reality.
Bad apples….yep there is in all parties….but the public when passing news stands in shops and supermarkets and perhaps browsing the headlines (but not actually buying the paper) are left in NO doubt who the individual was formerly a politician for when tis the SNP…..but they would need to buy the paper and read the content of the story to establish which party they were with whenever it is a Pro UK #BAD politician (ex or current)…….that’s a not so subtle form of propaganda.
NMRN
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Hi Prof, you’ve not posted in a while and you’re usually prolific, hope you are ok?
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You beat me to it!
Hope all’s well
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