In the Education, Communities and Justice committee on Thursday:
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what provision will be made for the delivery of free school meals when schools are closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
https://www.parliament.scot/S5ChamberOffice/WA20200409.pdf
It’s deeply moving, well more stomach-churning, to hear from the leader of the right-wing in Scottish Labour Unionist Group (SLUG) pretending to care about the weans. Back in 2002, when she and her colleagues in government voted down the universal provision of free school meals and the retention of the humiliating means test, she was more like herself.
First, Tommy Sheridan SSP at 3:32 pm, 20th June 2002 said:
We do not means test children to allow them access to schools. We do not means test children to allow them access to hospitals. We do not means test children to allow them access to libraries. It is a disgrace that we means test children in relation to school meals. From the age of five, we divide and label kids according to the income of their parents. The apologists for such divisive behaviour euphemistically call it targeting. Those who are able to think for themselves and who are not worried about their own political careers, are honest enough to call it what it is—means testing.
Jackie Baillie Labour then said:
I paraphrase Aneurin Bevan, who once said that socialism is the language of priorities. Tackling poverty, and child poverty in particular, is a priority for the Parliament, the Executive and the First Minister. We know that a clear, causal link exists between poverty and ill health and that it can affect children’s life chances and opportunities. The question, therefore, is whether we should target resources at those who are in most need, or whether we should spread the jam thinly.
John McAllion Labour then pointed to Baillie’s misreading of Bevan:
Jackie Baillie quoted Nye Bevan. That is fine, but she did not quote Nye Bevan’s lifelong detestation of the means test, which he fought all his life. Nye Bevan was once threatened with expulsion from the parliamentary Labour party for tabling amendments to end the means testing of old people. Were he here this afternoon, I have no doubt which side of the debate he would be arguing for.
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2002-06-20.12976.0
The worrying thing now is we’re going to hear much more from her as she senses the weakness in the old man at the top.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
One typo: You have rendered BevAn as BevIn on one place. Earnest Bevin was the former Leader of the Greater London Council who became a Cabinet Minister during the war
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Wasnae me. Copy and pasted it. Will change.
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Ooops no it was me!
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At the risk of being thought a pedantic arse-ache, I’ll venture to point out another error. From your text –
“she and her colleagues in government voted down the universal provision of free school meals and the retention of the humiliating means test”
She (Jackie Baillie) did not vote down retention of the humiliating means test. Quite the contrary.
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BTW – My latest blog post may be your kind of thing – https://peterabell.scot/2020/04/11/nae-bother-tae-uncle-tam/
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On Mr Bell’s blog post at https://peterabell.scot/2020/04/11/nae-bother-tae-uncle-tam/
Adding a ‘like’ here was not sufficient – certainly my ‘kind of thing’: wonderful stuff!!
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Scottish Labour Leader + Deputy privately educated.
Not their fault, but they come from privileged backgrounds, where universal provision was NOT the norm.
Labour veers between periods of privatisation and periods of nationalising—then they wonder why people don’t trust them anymore.
What will Labour do first?
Abolition of the House of Lords. Or–
A federal UK? Or–
A Universal basic income. Or—
None of the above !
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This reminds me of another Scottish Labour leader, Johann Lamont, who in 2012 was expressing doubts about the merits of ‘universalism’ – by extension, favouring means testing.
She received a strong push back from for example, the Jimmy Reid Foundation:
‘If Scottish Labour wants to open up a debate on universalism, I welcome it. It’ll be a brief debate and universalism will win. Again.’
Source: http://reidfoundation.org/2012/09/weve-had-the-debate-universalism-won/
Here Robin McAlpine wrote: “In fact, being part of society makes you part of a wider social contract that imparts on you certain rights as a human. This is the start of the welfare state. This is the fundamental principle of universalism.”
The SNP leadership has from time to time – perhaps more so pre-2014 – made reference to a ‘social contract’ between the Scottish government and the people of Scotland. Even as recently as 2019, the FM is quoted as saying of SNP government: “… we have supported the idea of a social contract at a time when it has been threatened elsewhere.”
I’d like to see this as a core concept re-emphasised and re-energised now.
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Alasdair, when pointing out the typo, in the original comment, you said “Earnest Bevin” – now I’m sure Mr Bevin was earnest, but his name wasn’t!!
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Isn’t that just typical. I was at school with Frank and Earnest.
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