I’m guessing that former minister, Brian Wilson, means under New Labour from 1997 to 2010 and is not referring to the catastrophic failure of Labour, in the previous decades, to tackle poverty and ill-health in Scotland, such that folk were often still in damp, squalid, housing well into the 1960s. I’m guessing he doesn’t mean the period after that when Labour made sure Scots didn’t know about the oil wealth which they planned to just handover to their bosses in London. I’m guessing, also, he doesn’t mean the Iraq and Afghanistan wars where many Scots soldiers died thanks to the frankly dim leadership of the MoD by Baron John Reid.
OK, then, how about in-work poverty?
Just under 10% in 1997 when they came to power after years of Tory-rule combined with their control of Scotland’s local governments, just under 10% in 2007 when the SNP replaced them in Scotland, and just under 10% in 2010 at the end of their UK reign – things stayed just the same.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.gcph.co.uk/assets/0000/4018/In-work_poverty_FINAL_Oct.pdf
Social housing?
This works out as an average of 4,141 houses delivered per year under the Labour administration. Under the SNP, there has (sic) been 4,778 delivered on average each year.
https://theferret.scot/snp-social-rent-labour/
Anyhow, enough looking backward, how will this Neu Arbeit Party under Starmer/Sarwar, make things better?
Would that be keeping Tory policies such as the two-child cap, universal credit only tinkered with, more out-sourcing, not working ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the unions, not nationalising anything, keeping tuition fees, not reforming the Lords, not taxing high-earners, no rent controls…..?
https://www.politico.eu/article/all-of-keir-starmers-u-turns-in-one-place/
Things will only get better? Aye, for the same folk for whom it gets better under the Tories.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
An Election in the Spring. Scotland can vote for Independence. Instead of Westminster corruption and lies.
Scotland loses £Billions because of Westminster mismanagement and poor, bad decisions. Illegal wars, financial fraud and tax evasion.
Brexit loses Scotland £Billions. People who support Independence need to get out and vote. March to the Polling Station.
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Anent oil and gas, Starmer Labour – when Labour had a ‘green’ recovery policy a couple of months ago, was based on a huge production of energy from renewables. And, where are most of these renewables going to be produced? In the only place they can be produced in the required volume – Scotland and the waters around Scotland.
The energy will be ‘exported’ back to Scotland via the ‘National’ Grid, at prices much higher than those in England.
Clearly Labour sees Scotland as a colony to be exploited -steal the energy, then force the natives to buy it back at inflated prices.
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In the HOC at WM Labour blame the Tories.
IN the HOC, the Tories blame Jeremy Corbyn (Yip laughable), who was never PM, and they also highlight occasionally, how Labour run Wales ,as a government, is the worse performing among all nations in their UK.
In Scotland at Holyrood they both, Labour and Tory, put all of the blame upon the SNP as do their respective HQ’s….
Scots , and some others, who have lived through both various Labour and Tory UK governments control know exactly where the real blame lies …..as do those nations (Scotland and Wales) who have also lived through Labour devolved governments…..and currently as they, Labour and Tories, criticise the SNP for their supposed failures they fail to recognise their own many failings when they were in power at both a devolved and central (UK) level…..but we do not…..
Tis also worth noting that both parties ,when in charge as the UK government, had and still have control of (reserved) powers that the devolved governments do not, as in those significant powers that should and could make a difference…..but alas as powers held they have been both wasted and misused by both political parties as a UK Govt…. and too they also both had, when in power, and still DO have via the current Tory UK Govt. , all control of the ‘Lion’s share’ of the money as a UK government…..thus there is no ‘like for like’ comparison that can be made between the UK and devolved governments…..so for them to blame the SNP…well tis just another exercise by them in deflecting away attention from their own failings and incompetence….and too their own fiscal irresponsibility….which only, as an exercise in blame, is believed by those voters who rely solely on both political party’s respective client media for their news and information.
Unfortunately for both Labour and the Tories the propaganda and brainwashing fails to hit home with us…as in us , those other voters , who are more clued up in how both of them, as political parties, have failed via their own dire performance at both a devolved and central level….and not forgetting at a council level too…which are hardly testimony or endorsements of good governance worth highlighting and applauding (or supporting and voting for) …..hence why we, as in those with long and good memories, cannot be ‘won over’ ‘Got back’ and thus can never be convinced by ANY of them at ANY level….been there, done that etc etc and now very much we are at the stage of once bitten, twice shy….
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It is now clear that one of the intentions of New Labour’s “devolution” was to devolve blame.
Perhaps they should be encouraging people like Foulkes to refrain from trying to take back control because they will also be taking back blame when,as usual,Anglo policies are seen to damage Scottish interests.
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