From SNP Media:
The SNP has accused Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak of being one of the biggest threats to Scotland’s recovery as he is poised to impose years of Tory austerity on Scotland.
It comes after Sunak joined his boss Boris Johnson in denying the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland in the Scottish Daily Mail.
Earlier this year, the Chancellor who has previously said that austerity was ‘absolutely the right thing to do’ set out how he will return to years of Tory austerity, squeezing public sector pay and imposing cuts across the board. He has already failed to deliver on pay rises promised to NHS workers in England, whilst in Scotland the SNP is offering a 4% rise.
And last year Sunak refused requests to extend furlough for Scotland and Wales, risking necessary action on public health, only paying up when it was required in England.
Commenting, SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said:
“The SNP is focused on steering Scotland through the pandemic and into our recovery. As we do so we will be faced with a question of who we want leading that recovery.
“We cannot trust the Tories to do the right thing for the Scottish economy, Rishi Sunak has already set out his post-COVID budget which will see a return to crippling Tory austerity.
“Scotland suffered ten years of Tory cuts, which plunged thousands into poverty and forced families to use food banks just to ensure they could put food on the table, we cannot afford to return to another decade of austerity.
“And no one will forget the insulting attitude the Chancellor took when it came to the needs of Scotland’s workforce, refusing for weeks to extend furlough when we needed it, only to do it immediately when it was required in England. In that one action he showed that the Tories will always put the needs of Scotland last.
“As we look towards our recovery, returning to austerity does not have to be the only way. We cannot trust the Tories to keep Scotland safe and make the decisions that best suit the people of Scotland.
“In just three days, the people of Scotland will have a choice, whether to put our recovery into an austerity-obsessed Tory government or into our own hands by re-electing Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister with Both Votes SNP.”
ENDS
Notes
https://twitter.com/imajsaclaimant/status/1313225106391523328
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/01/not-fair-welsh-and-scottish-leaders-hit-out-at-furlough-extension-for-england-covid-lockdown
Contact: SNP Media
Talking-up Scotland 
It is the “right thing to do” if your political agenda is to get rid of public services and create the small state.
The problems that England’s Tories now face is that everyone can see that austerity is a political and not an economic tool and that a fragmented public/private health system is simply incapable of dealing with serious health issues.
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“The problems that England’s Tories now face is that everyone can see that austerity is a political and not an economic tool…”, oh how I wish that were true, there are great many who still hold to the Thatcher “family budget” myth, even if in Scotland their numbers are dwindling.
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SO ALL THIS AUSTERITY COMING OUR WAY IN SCOTLAND
AND DORIS IS STILL GOING TO SPEND SPEND BILLIONS IN SCOTLAND IF SCOTS STOP WANTING TO GOVERN THE
COUNTRY
GO JUMP IN YOUR SELF DITCH
BOTH SUNAK AN JOHNSON
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Yes, it doesn’t add up does it, that’s because we know that their supposed £billions is a total con and another BritNat scam.
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Starving little children is obviously ‘absolutely’ the far right wing ‘thing to do’.
Imagine willingly, happily, lining the pockets of the rich while plunging the poorest people into even more poverty including children, no neither can I.
Evil doesn’t come close to describe these Tory and red Tory troughers, despicable.
Scotland has to reject that terrible, cruel, backward destructive Tory con, at the ballot box this Thursday.
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That’s what sociopaths do – they have no empathy !
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Austerity is an ideological choice that is incompatible with international human rights law, so if the Tories think it was the right choice….
The Political Economy of Austerity and Human Rights Law
Click to access 2016-Engstrom-Political-economy-of-austerity.pdf
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Sorry, I wasn’t remembering the (dot).
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Giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Cutting £100 a month from Universal credit. Staving and killing people. Hickley Point, HS2 and Trident. Costing £Billions. Wasted. The Tory slush fund.. Cutting essential services. The pandemic mishandled. The Brexit shambles unfolding.
Westminster has been taking Scottish resources and revenues forever. Keeping it secret under the Official Secrets Act. Since 1928 Scotland can vote against it. People are. Scotland can handle it’s own revenues and finances. Instead of Westminster mismanage and wasting Scottish resources and revenues.
Vote SNP/Alba. Vote for Independence to stop Westminster austerity. To make Scotland a better more equal prosperous places. The UK the most unequal place in the world. Vote to make the world a better place.
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If the Scottish government wasn’t so besotted by ideology self-identifying as international best practice, they might be more able to defend the ESC rights of Scots from the harmful effects of reactionary English Torydum (see Brexit).
https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/austerity-policies-in-the-uk-an-impermissible-retrogressive-measure/
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We can be ruled by an English nationalist government (Ciaran Martin) or we can rule our own country, in partnership with international friends.
Boris breeches Purdah, by “promising £billions” in road and rail connectivity.
The same clowns who paused motorways coming to Scotland for decades.
The same clowns who promote HS2 for the southern half of England.
The same clowns who fantasise about a bridge/tunnel in Hi Jacks constituency–a proposal which will do zilch for the wider Scottish economy, and where £20 billion could connect and enhance economic growth all over Scotland.
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…therefore Independence is urgent! To deal with the post Covid recovery and Brexit aftermath the priority is IndyRef2. We need to start the process towards Independence ASAP. We need plans A to Z! We need to be assertive on our Right to Self Determination.
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A thread on Tory austerity seems like a relevant place to promote this! It’s a just published – and free – ebook from Richard Murphy entitled ‘Money for nothing and my Tweets for free’:
See: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Money-for-nothing-and-my-Tweets-for-free.pdf
This is the ebook’s contents:
1 Economics
2 Quantitative easing
3 QE and funding the Green New Deal
4 How to use local and hypothecated bonds to fund the recovery
5 Debt
6 The national debt paranoia
7 The role of tax
8 Inflation
9 The radio interview I want to hear
10 Why does Boris Johnson want to take on the nurses?
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This is why a sociologically informed jurisprudence is so important, as it can help the law defend society from ideological extremes. If constitutional law hopes to be just, it needs to consider positive, natural, and sociological legal doctrines. British constitutionalism appears to have forgotten this, though I’m not sure if it ever felt obliged to do so, tbh.
The moral economy of austerity: analysing UK welfare reform
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26948066/
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O/T. Just spotted this from a couple of days ago. BBC Scotland has been up to its old tricks again via the BBC News website. It concerns Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Ltd.
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-56943864
The headline is: ‘Ferguson shipyard MADE £100m loss after being nationalised’ (my emphasis) Looks pretty damning doesn’t it? This company is nationalised and then its business operations rack up a big loss immediately afterwards!
This is the first sentence of the BBC article: ‘A nationalised shipyard tasked with delivering two ferries RECORDED a £100m loss in the first few months it was under Scottish government ownership.’ Note the change from ‘MADE’ to ‘RECORDED’!
The reader of the webpage with this dramatic headline – one which quite clearly opts for a strong negative framing – needs to keep reading the article before being given information indicative of a rather different ‘truth’.
‘The turnaround director appointed by the government insisted the losses were due to “accounting matters”.’ And: (the recorded loss) ‘was based on “the AUDITOR’S VIEW of the contractual arrangements in place AT THE TIME the shipyard was brought into public ownership”.’ Note the emphasis here on ‘AT THE TIME’ and not as stated in the article’s first sentence ‘IN THE FIRST FEW MONTHS’. There is a crucial difference between the phrases: the message intended to be conveyed by the BBC is clear in careful, professional drafting of the text.
Significantly, the company’s director is also reported as stating: ‘ that as a result of contractual changes “the reported loss WILL NOT BE REALISED AND WILL THEREFORE BE REVERSED in the accounts for the year ending 31 March 2021 which WILL SHOW A CORRESPONDING PROFIT”.’
And we learn from the same director of the company: “Both the 2020 loss and the 2021 profit are SIMPLY ACCOUNTING MATTERS that are not reflective of the underlying performance of the shipyard, and do not have any impact on the estimated costs to complete the ferries”.
Now one might just allow a headline that read ”Ferguson shipyard’s first accounts record £100m loss after nationalisation”: it would still demonstrate an editorial decision for negative framing but it could be defended as accurate. The audited accounts lodged with Companies House do ‘record’ such a loss but they also explain its status and significance – or rather the lack of it.
BBC Scotland could have decided there was nothing of significance to report here – arguably there really isn’t. But was this an opportunity to construct and then amplify a negative that could not be resisted, especially during a crucial election campaign?
Need we wonder how difficult an editorial decision it was for BBC Scotland to take when faced with choosing between a negative, neutral or negative frame? And I can’t help but wonder this: did a BBC Scotland employee come across this (non) story or was it gift wrapped and delivered to it from someone else?
For a change, how about some positives about this nationalised shipyard? This is from a news release from the company published on 15 March 2021:
‘Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) has marked another milestone in its recovery with the launch of an innovative 26-metre workboat for Scotland’s fish farming sector.’ – the Kallista Helen built for Inverlussa Marine Services.
‘The multi-role treatment vessel features an innovative design; it is the first vessel of its type to be designed and built in Scotland around a thermolicer system. ‘.
‘The launch marks a first for Clyde shipbuilding by using large inflatable marine airbags and a rolling motion to move the vessel into water. An airbag launch was considered safer and more cost effective for this vessel.
“Kallista Helen is the third vessel launched by Ferguson since it was taken into public ownership in December 2019. Hull 804, which is the first of two ordered by Inverlussa and named Helen Rice, was launched in spring 2020, and an air cushion barge (ACB) for use in the oil industry was launched in June 2020.” Three vessels launched since nationalisation c. 16 months ago – who knew?
(Info for the curious: on the ‘Air Cushion Barge’ – a ’55m x 24m barge which includes a suite of lift fans, air propulsion, marine propulsion modules, and specialist rubber skirting. On its commissioning the unit will be the first self-propelled ACB built and will be capable of carrying up to a 150t payload over tundra, swamps, ice and water and will be used to provide support to the oil industry in the shallow waters of the Caspian Sea.’ Looks like more innovation coming from the Ferguson yard!)
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Arghh – should read ‘.. choosing between a negative, neutral or positive frame?’ My excuse is that I’m not used to writing – even thinking – about BBC Scotland and ‘positive’ in the same moment!
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Cheers for having the patience to plough through it all Stewart and give such a thorough analysis, I’ve given up on HMS Sarah Smith but for a skim until this election is over due to blood pressure issues.
It sounds as if Ferguson have not only been turned around but breaking new ground into the bargain, as you astutely observed, silence from the media, but I suspect few are frankly surprised given the times we are in.
Great for the yard and the workforce in the short term, and will put a few noses out of joint in the process.
Fascinated by the ACB design concept, will have a snoop tomorrow as it’s late here, but thanks for the synposis.
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